Class 



Book 



1 

MEMOIRS 

OF THE 

LIFE AND WRITINGS 

OF THE 

RIGHT REV. RICHARD KURD, D. 

LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER; 

WITH A SELECTION FROM HIS 
CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER UNPUBLISHED PAPERS. 

BY THE REY. FRANCIS KILYERT, M.A. 

EDITOR OF THE LITERARY REMAINS OF BISHOP WARBURTON. 




LONDOX: 
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 

1860. 



WESTMINSTER : 
PRINTED BY J. 15. NICHOLS AND SONS, 
25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 



THE RIGHT REV. HENRY PEPYS, D.D. 

LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER, 
AS THE PRESENT OCCUPANT OF THE SEE SO LONG 
PRESIDED OVER BY BISHOP HURD : 
AND TO 

THE RIGHT HON. EDWARD JOHN BARON HATHERTON, 

OF HATHERTON, CO. STAFFORD, 
AS THE DESCENDANT OF THE BISHOP'S LIFE-LONG FRIEND 
SIR EDWARD LITTLETON, BART. 

AND AS POSSESSOR OF THE ESTATE ON OR NEAR WHICH 
THE BISHOP WAS BORN AND BRED : 
TO BOTH 

AS HAVING IN THE MOST OBLIGING MANNER 
CONTRIBUTED VALUABLE MATERIALS 
TOWARDS THE PRESENT WORK, 
THESE PAGES 

ARE WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF GRATITUDE AND RESPECT INSCRIBED 
BY THEIR LORDSHIPS' 
MOST OBLIGED AND MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, 

THE EDITOR 



PREFACE. 



The following pages are designed as an act of tardy 
justice to the memory of one who deserved better 
treatment from posterity than he has met with at 
their hands. Prom the death of Bishop Hurd in 
1808 to the present time, with the exception of 
short notices in periodicals, or biographical dic- 
tionaries, collections of scattered memoranda, and 
a few sneering and depreciatory remarks in reviews 
and other publications, no account of him deserv- 
ing the name of a Life has appeared.* And yet 
he had, on some accounts, far higher claims to 
attention that many whose biographies have been 
at great length presented to the public. The son 
of humble parents, advanced by his talents and 
literary merit to a high position in the world of 
letters — distinguished by theological attainments, 
and pulpit eloquence — recommended by the pu- 
rity of his character and the graceful simplicity 

* From this number must be excepted the Memoir of the Bishop 
published in the Ecclesiastical and University Register for 1808, by 
far the most ample, judicious, and candid account of him and his 
works which has yet appeared. The writer of this article I have in 
vain attempted to ascertain. 



vi 



PREFACE. 



of his manners to the friendship of the great and 
good — raised by their influence to the highest 
dignities of his profession, as well as to the charge 
of the royal offspring — and honoured with the 
personal respect and affection of his sovereigns — 
his gradual ascent by his own merit from an 
inferior to an exalted station affords both an 
interesting subject of contemplation, and an ex- 
emplary lesson too valuable to be allowed to pass 
away into oblivion. 

Under this persuasion, I have undertaken the 
long-omitted duty of paying a deserved tribute to 
the character of a distinguished relative, by re- 
scuing his memory from neglect, and holding him 
forth, not as a faultless model, but as an example 
well worthy in many respects of the imitation of 
those placed in similar circumstances with himself. 

The advantages and disadvantages of a biogra- 
phical memoir so long delayed have been ex- 
pressed with pregnant brevity by Dr. Johnson : 
" If a life be delayed till interest and envy are at 
an end, we may hope for impartiality, but must 
expect little intelligence." 

To the truth of this general remark I readily 
assent. I am however in hopes that I may be 
able in this particular instance to attain in some 
measure the advantages, without incurring the 
disadvantages, of a long-delayed memoir, Interest 
and envy, in Bishop Hurd's case, have long been 
over, so that there is no temptation on those 



PREFACE. 



vii 



grounds to partiality ; and the original sources of 
information opened to my use enable me to furnish 
fresh intelligence by throwing additional light 
upon his life and character. 

In the life of a man of letters little of stirring 
incident is to be expected. And the history of 
one whose promotion was owing to his own 
deserts, aided by the good offices of friends, whom 
he had attached by honest and straightforward 
means, affords none of that tissue of management 
and intrigue which is so attractive to many 
readers. The interest of such a life must be 
principally owing to its own literary merits, and 
to its connexion with the literature of its age. In 
the case of Bishop Hurci, both these causes emi- 
nently concur. His numerous and important 
writings bear witness to the former ; and the 
latter is attested, among other proofs, by the allu- 
sions to his name and works in the Index to 
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, filling above three 
closely printed octavo columns. 

The Bishop has experienced the fate of others 
who have engaged warmly in the defence of emi- 
nent, but unpopular, characters — viz. to share 
largely in the censure lavished upon their princi- 
pals, and to have their own claims to attention 
estimated not by their general merits, but by any 
defect of prudence or temper into which the 
earnestness of their advocacy may have betrayed 
them. Accordingly the prevailing idea which 



viii 



PREFACE. 



most modern readers have of the Bishop is derived 
not from his high qualifications as a divine, a 
preacher, a critic, and a man — in all which points 
he excelled — hut from his two controversial pam- 
phlets against Jortin and Leland, in which his 
zeal for his friend and patron Warburton got the 
mastery of his temper and his discretion. This 
erroneous impression, it is hoped, the following 
account of him may avail to rectify. 

As for the light artillery played off against him 
by Horace Walpole in his Letters, the random 
shots of one who was an habitual laugher or 
sneerer at almost every thing and every body 
(at none more than those distinguished by solid 
learning and eminent virtue) can do no damage 
to a character like the Bishop's. 

In offering this Memoir to the public, I feel 
that some apology is due on my part for under- 
taking with inadequate resources a work requir- 
ing for its perfect execution so extensive an ac- 
quaintance with the literary history of the latter 
half of the last century. I can only say in excuse 
for my attempt, that I thought it better that an 
incomplete account of the Bishop's Life and 
Writings should be given, than that his name and 
credit should be consigned to the mere sketches 
which have yet appeared ; and that if the work 
had been undertaken by abler hands, this imper- 
fect essay would never have been made. 

The materials out of which the present volume 



PREFACE. IX 

is formed are partly published, partly original. 
Of the published matters are — 

1. The Bishop's own memoranda, entitled by 
him, " Some Occurrences in my Life prefixed 
to the edition of his "Works published in 1811. 

2. The short Memoir of him, with copious illus- 
trations, in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. vi. 
together with various scattered notices in the same 
inexhaustible mine. of literary research. 

3. The judicious and well- written account of his 
Life and Writings in the Ecclesiastical and Uni- 
versity Register for 1809, and the well-executed 
sketch of the same in Chalmers's Biog. Diet. 

4. Some notices and anecdotes of him in the 
Memoirs of Joseph Cradock, Esq. 1827. 

5. Incidental notices of his visits to Windsor 
Castle in Madame D'Arblay's Autobiography. 

Of all these I have made free use wherever I 
found them available. 

The original part consists of — 

1. A small collection of the Bishop's early 
Letters to one of his friends and patrons, the Rev. 
John Devey, Rector of Beckbury, Salop. Eor 
these I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. 
H. Raymond Smythies, Rector of Easthope, Salop. 

2. A considerable number of letters written 
by the Bishop to his most intimate friend Dr. 
Thomas Baiguy, Archdeacon of Winchester, 
raDging from the year 1749 to 1793, placed at my 
disposal in the handsomest and kindest manner 



X PltEFACE. 

by the Rev. J. T. Allen, Vicar of Stradbrooke, 
Suffolk, a relative by marriage of Dr. Balguy. 

3. A few letters from the Bishop to his life- 
long friend, Sir Edward Littleton, of Teddesley, 
Staffordshire, most obligingly communicated to 
me by the Bight Hon. Lord Hatherton, the 
descendant of Sir Edward. 

4. The Bishop's Commonplace Book, in three 
volumes, commenced in 1744, and continued 
nearly to his death, preserved in the Library of 
Hartlebury Castle, which was in the kindest and 
most courteous manner confided to me for exa- 
mination and extraction by the Bight Be v. the 
present Bishop of Worcester. 

In the arrangement of these materials I have 
availed myself of the excellent model afforded 
by Mason in his Life of Gray, viz. to let the 
Bishop speak as much as possible for himself by 
his familiar letters, interweaving only so much 
of narrative as is necessary to connect the letters 
together, and interspersing such anecdotes and 
illustrations as I was able to collect. 

The main events of the Bishop's life may for 
convenience be divided into four periods. 

The first containing his school and college life, 
previously to his introduction to Warburton in 
1749. 

The second containing his college life continued 
from that event to his institution to the living 
of Thurcaston in 1757. 



PREFACE. 



xi 



The third containing his incumbency at Thur- 
caston, and appointment as Preacher at Lincoln's 
Inn, until his consecration to the see of Lichfield 
and Coventry in 1774. 

The fourth containing his appointment as Pre- 
ceptor to the Princes, and his presidency over the 
sees of Lichfield and Coventry, and Worcester, 
till his death in 1808. 

These periods occupy as many sections, into 
which the Memoir is divided, and form the first 
Part of the work. 

The second Part consists of selections from the 
Bishop's Commonplace Book, comprising histo- 
rical characters, and thoughts on various subjects, 
partly theological and moral, and partly critical 
and miscellaneous. 

The work is closed by some Letters of the 
Bishop in correspondence with Dr. John Butler, 
Bishop of Hereford, * which did not come into my 
possession until the first part of the book was in 
type; by a few extracts from the Bishop's pub- 
lished Works ; and by some necessary Addenda. 

I cannot close my prefatory remarks without 
offering my grateful acknowledgments — 

Pirst, to the distinguished and friendly persons 
whose kindness furnished me with the most im- 
portant materials for this Memoir. 

* These letters were kindly supplied to me by Mrs. Burne, (wife of 
William Burne, Esq. M.D. of Richmond Lodge, Bath,) Bishop 
Butler's great-niece. 



xii 



PREFACE. 



Next, to James Crossley, Esq. President of the 
Chetham Society, Manchester, (an authority in 
matters of literary history without appeal,) for 
the valuable counsel and suggestions from time 
to time afforded me ; and 

Last, to my publishers, Messrs. Bentley, for 
the prompt and liberal manner in which they 
undertook the work ; as well as to my printers, 
Messrs. Nichols, for their care in bringing it out, 
and for the information supplied by their literary 
experience. 

In conclusion I would remark that much in- 
dulgence is obviously solicited by a work of this 
nature, which must in a great measure be a cento 
of materials brought together from a variety of 
quarters ; and I trust that any inequalities of 
style and manner, as well as any incoherency and 
repetition, arising from this source, will be favour- 
ably considered and leniently criticised. 

Claverton Lodge, Bath. Erancxs Kilvert. 

May 1, 1860. 

%* By an inadvertence for which I beg earnestly to apologize, I 
have placed the Bishop's Letter to Dr. Leland under the year 1758 
instead of 1764. I soon discovered the error, but unfortunately not 
until the sheet containing it was printed off". 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP BISHOP HURD. 

Section I. His School and College Life ... 1 
Section II. His College Life continued to his institution 

to the rectory of Thurcaston . . .31 
Section III. As Rector of Thurcaston, and as Preacher at 

Lincoln's Inn . . . . .67 

Section IV. As Preceptor to the Princes, and Bishop of 

Lichfield and Coventry, and of Worcester 120 



part II 

Selections from Bishop Herd's Commonplace Book . . 209 

I. Characters. 212 

II. Extracts — 

1. Theological and Moral 259 

2. Critical and Miscellaneous . . . .281 



Letters from Bishop Hurd to Bishop Butler . . .313 
Extracts from Bishop Hurd's Published Works . .331 
Addenda to the Life . . . . . . .351 

List of the Works of Bishop Hurd, chronologically arranged 385 
Index to the Names of Persons . . . . .387 

Index to the Extracts . 391 



PART I. 

LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 

OF 

BISHOP HURD. 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 



OF 

BISHOP HUED, 



PART I. 



SECTION L 

Richard Htjrd was born at Congreve in the 
parish of Penkridge, in the county of Stafford, on 
the thirteenth of January, 1719-20. " He was," 
as he tells us in his short memoranda of some 
occurrences in his life, " the second of three 
children, all sons, of J ohn and Hannah Hurd : 
plain, honest, and good people, who rented a con- 
siderable farm at Congreve, where he was born ; 
but soon after removed to a larger at Penford, 
about halfway between Brewood and Wolver- 
hampton, in the same county." 

Of these worthy persons their son has given 
so charming an account in a letter to his friend 
Bishop Warburton dated 1754, that some ana- 

B 



2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



chronisin may be pardoned in introducing it in 
this place. 

I believe I never told you how happy I am in an ex- 
cellent father and mother, — very plain people, you may be 
sure, for they are farmers, but of a turn of mind that might 
have honoured any rank and any education. With very 
tolerable, but in no degree affluent, circumstances, their ge- 
nerosity was such, they never regarded any expense that was 
in their power, and almost out of it, in whatever regarded 
the welfare of their children. We are three brothers of us. 
The eldest [John] settled very reputably in their own way, 
and the youngest [Thomas] in the Birmingham trade. 
For myself, a poor scholar, as you know, I am almost 
ashamed to own how solicitous they always were to furnish 
me with all the opportunities of the best and most liberal 
education. My case in so many particulars resembles that 
which the Roman Poet describes as his own, that with 
Pope's wit I could apply almost every circumstance of it. 
And, if ever I were to wish in earnest to be a poet, it would 
be for the sake of doing justice to so uncommon a virtue. 
I should be a wretch if I did not conclude, as he does, 

Si natura juberet, &c. &c. 

In a word, when they had fixed us in such a rank of life, 
as they designed and believed should satisfy us, they very 
wisely left the business of the world to such as wanted it 
more, or liked it better. They considered what age and 
declining health seemed to demand of them, reserving to 
themselves only such a support as their few and little wants 
made them think sufficient. I should beg pardon for 
troubling you with this humble history; but the subjects of 
it are so much, and so tenderly, in my thoughts at present, 
that, if I writ at all, I could hardly help writing about 
them. 



BISHOP HURD. 



3 



Warburton in reply says : 

You could not have obliged nie more than by bringing 
me acquainted, as you do in your last kind letter, with 
persons who can never be indifferent to me, when so near to 
you. Sir E. Littleton had told me great things of them; 
and from him I learned that virtue and good sense are here- 
ditary amongst you, and family qualities. And as to filial 
piety, I knew it could not but crown all the rest of your ad- 
mirable endowments. Pray make me acquainted with your 
good father and mother ; tell them how sincerely I congra- 
tulate with them on the honour of such a son, and how 
much I share in their happiness on that head. 

Sir Edward oft sees your elder brother, and speaks of him 
as the best companion he has, — indeed in a very extraordi- 
nary manner, of his abilities. Your other brother was, I 
was told, not long since, among the trading towns in this 
neighbourhood, where he fell into company at dinner with 
some of our Somersetshire clergy, by whom he was much 
caressed on hearing to whom he was related. 

Prior Park, July 14, 1754. 

An amusing anecdote i& current in the family 
respecting the Bishop's younger brother, Thomas. 
He was, as the Bishop states, in the Birmingham 
trade. At that place he had formed an attach- 
ment, unknown to his family y to a highly respect- 
able young person, but in humble life, and of no 
great personal attractions. This attachment 
resulted in a private marriage. In one of his 
visits to his parents, his mother, observing him 
to be unusually silent and thoughtful, pressed 
him with an affectionate " What ails thee, child?" 
to tell the cause. The reply, in a faint voice, was, 



4 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



"Mother, I'm married." "Married!" cried the 
old lady, "and where' s thy wife?" (Reply in a 
still fainter key) " I left her in the cart-house." 
"Go," rejoined his mother, "and fetch her in 
directly." The poor little woman, shivering with 
cold and anxiety, was accordingly nshered in 
from her inhospitable shelter. The feelings of 
the good old people were touched, and she was 
welcomed as a member of the family. This 
plain little person used in after-times, on her 
visits at Hartlebury Castle, to be led up by the 
Bishop with stately courtesy to the head of his 
table, and proved the only medium through 
which the family was continued. 

The Bishop's early education, as he himself 
states in his memoranda, was at the Grammar 
Schood of Brewood, in Staffordshire, first under 
a Mr. Hilman, and afterwards under the Rev. 
William Budworth, both well qualified for their 
ofiice, and both very kind to him. Of Mr. Bud- 
worth the Bishop speaks with much respect and 
affection, and he subsequently embalmed his 
memory, first by a high encomium in the dedi- 
cation to his Horace, and afterwards by an ele- 
gant monumental inscription in the chapel of 
Shareshull, near Brewood. 

Of his school-career no certain account has 
been preserved. One authority speaks of his 
disposition to study having lain undeveloped till 
the last year before he went to college, when his 
progress was astonishing. Another (that of a 



BISHOP HURD. 



5 



school-fellow, and therefore more to be relied on,) 
asserts that he was always assiduous at his books 
from his earliest childhood. To this statement 
additional credibility is given by his own assertion 
that he was, so early as in 1733, thought fit for 
the university, and was accordingly, on the 3rd 
October in that year admitted a Sizar at Em- 
manuel College, Cambridge, although he did not 
go to reside till a year or two afterwards. # In 
this college, at that time presided over by Dr. 
Richardson, he had the advantage of being under 
the tuition of the Rev. Henry Hubbard,! a tutor 
of great judgment, of the most punctilious regu- 
larity, and a popular preacher. To these distin- 
guishing traits of his early instructor, we may 
perhaps trace some of those which in after-life 
characterised the Eishop. Of his early college 
life we know little more than of his career at 
school. He took the degree of A.B. in 1738-9 
The year 1740 introduces him to us in the fol- 
lowing Letters as the correspondent of the Rev. 
John Hevey,J Rector of Beckbury near ShifFnal, 
in Shropshire, who seems to have been a kind 
friend and encourager of the rising scholar. 

* It is said by the Rev. W. Cole that he was sent to college by 
the family of Sir Edward Littleton, but the Editor finds no other 
evidence of the fact ; and Lord Hatherton informs him that he never 
heard the report. 

t Of Catherine hall, A.B. 1728, A.M. 1732, afterwards of Emmanuel 
college, and Senior Fellow, B.D. 1739, Registrar of the University ; 
died 1778, ast. 70. 

t He was of Pembroke college, Oxford, B.A. 1722, M.A. 1725. 



6 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



MR. HURD TO REV. JOHN DEYEY. 

Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Jan. 23d, 1740. 

Rev. Sir, As I write from a famous seat of 

learning, you will probably expect some news relating to 
the republic of letters. I shall therefore tell you that 
yesterday was published an answer to the third volume of 
The Moral Philosopher, by a gentleman of St. John's * *Tis 
wrote a good deal in the taste and spirit of Bentley's 
Phileleutherus Lipsiensis, and is expected to be a good 
thing. Dr. Delany's Life of David f is a charming per- 
formance; if you have not seen it, I am sure it will please 

you I am, Sir, with service to Mrs. Devey 

and your son, your most humble servant, 

Richard Hurd. 

TO THE SAME. 

Cambridge, March 14, 1740-1. 

With regard to systems of logic, which 

you inquire after, it will perhaps surprise you to hear that 
we can hardly be said to use any at all. The study of 
logic is almost entirely laid aside in this university, and 
that of the mathematics taken up in its room. It is looked 
upon as a maxim here, that a justness and accuracy in think- 
ing and reasoning are better learned by a habit than by 

* Samuel Squire, Fellow of St. John's, and afterwards Bishop of 
St. David's, was the author of " The ancient History of the Hebrews 
vindicated ; or, Remarks on the Third Volume of the Moral Philoso- 
pher, by Theophanes Cantabrigiensis : Cambridge, 1741." On this 
subject see Nichols's Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, 
vol. v. p. 569. 

* An historical Account of the Life and Reign of David King of 
Israel. By Patrick Delany, D.D. 1740. 



BISHOP HUED. 



7 



rules; and it is an observation founded upon long experience, 
that no men argue more closely and acutely than they who 
are well versed in mathematic learning, even though they are 
ignorant of the rules delivered by the great masters in that 
other science. Indeed, as our disputations in the schools 
are always carried on in syllogism, a small part of that study 
is still requisite ; but, as this is very easily learned from any 
system, we are not very curious in the choice of one. 
However, those that are generally made use of on this 

occasion are Le Clerc's and Dr. Watts' s 

I thank you, Sir, for your judicious remarks on the Life 
of David, and can't but admire the complaisant and genteel 
turn you give to my bad taste and wrong judgment of that 
author. For both these I am justly chargeable with, if 
there are those superfine triflings and laboured overflowings 
of the sublime you speak of. Your sentiments, indeed, have 
great weight with me, and it must carry in it the appearance 
of much pertness and presumption to think of disputing the 
justness of them. However., with your leave, Sir, I will 
just mention one or two particulars that may serve, perhaps, 
if not to overcome your opinion, at least in some measure to 
excuse my own. I would flatter myself, then, that the 
reason of my differing from you in this case, is the viewing 
it in a light which perhaps did not immediately present 
itself to you. This I ascribe, not to my own penetration, 
but to the hints of others of much more learning and ex- 
perience : 'tis in short this : ^tis probable you might expect 
to find it wrote according to the strict laws of history, and 
therefore containing only a plain narrative of the life and 
actions of David, collected from sacred writ. This expecta- 
tion would be in some sort confirmed by the title-page, 
which, as I remember, calls it the History of the Life of 
David. Considering it, therefore, in this light, it might 
very well seem affected and unnatural to insert so many 
disquisitions and conjectures, and to run out into digres- 



8 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



sions of almost a poetical nature. But, if we look upon it 
(as I believe it was intended) as an essay or dissertation 
upon tKe life and actions of that hero, the particulars you 
blame are so far from being faults, that I dare say you'll 
think them beauties. This way of considering that per- 
formance will account not only for the manner but the 
style also in which 'tis wrote. In the character of an exact 
history the language is, perhaps, too florid, and savours too 
much of the sublime ; but in that of an essay, 'tis, I conceive, 
otherwise; the diction must be spirited, and raised above 
the common pitch, to entertain and please. 

You see, Sir, how impertinent we young lads are, and 
what trouble we give both ourselves and others, rather than 
own (what would perhaps better become us) that we are 
mistaken. But, notwithstanding this common failing of 
young men, if Mr. Devey, upon viewing the Life of David 
in this light, should still continue in his opinion, I shall be 
so far from standing out any longer against him, that I shall 
immediately embrace his sentiments, and endeavour to cor- 
rect the error of my own judgment by submitting to a much 
better. 

TO THE SAME. 

Cambridge, May 3d, 1741. 
Rev. Sir, — You see what it is to engage in a corre- 
spondence with boys. We are a most impertinent set of 
people, and never know when to give over talking. Me- 
thinks the epithet garrula, which from the age of Nestor to 
the present times has been constantly given to Senectus, 
would suit full as well with Juventus. There is, indeed, this 
difference between the two cases, that talkativeness in old 
men is ever seasoned with experience and good sense, 
whereas the tattle of the young is light and trivial, and has 



BISHOP HURJD. 



9 



seldom any solidity to compensate for its exuberance. For 
this reason it was perhaps not so ridiculous in %he old sage, 
as some are apt to imagine, to enjoin a profound silence to 
his pupils for a certain term of years. His design, without 
doubt, was to instruct them in their duty, and prevent them 
from talking at all till they had learnt to talk well. And, 
indeed, this conduct is so reasonable, that I believe I should 
immediately give into it, but that I have now an opportu- 
nity of conversing with one whose candour would incline 
him to pardon anything his judgment should dislike. Of 
that I have had a remarkable instance in the case of 
Delany's Life of David; of which I shall only add further, 
that it has given me great occasion to admire not only the 
j udgment but politeness of Mr. Devey. 

I know not whether the following remark be worth 
mentioning to you, but the name of David naturally brings 
it to my mind. The word " temple " is used by that in- 
spired poet to signify the heavens in the following passage, 
" In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my 
God: He heard me out of his temple," Ps. xviii. 6. Dr. 
Delany, if I remember right, adds that this form of expres- 
sion is very beautiful. I was pleased the other day to find 
this term used exactly in the same sense by the sublime 
Lucretius : 

jam iaemo, fessus satiate videndi, 

Suspicere in coeli dignatur lucida templa. 

L. ii. v. 1037. 

It occurs also in a passage of the first Book, where the 
epithet " tonitralia," which is joined to it, would not im- 
properly mark the idea we have of that temple when the 
Lord thunders in it, and the Highest gives his voice. 
Ibid. ver. 13. 

Neve ruant coeli tonitralia templa superne. 

L. i. 1098. 



10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Think not, Sir, I mention this as though I thought the 
poetry of DaArid could receive any additional glory or merit 
from any resemblance it may be found to bear to the flights 
of Pagan writers. That I know is impossible; but must 
own it gives me some pleasure to meet with passages in 
heathen learning that are parallel to those in sacred writ, 
since it is by such kind of proof only that many classical 
pretenders to criticism will suffer themselves to be convinced 
of the beauty of those sublimest of compositions. 

In June, 1742, Mr. Hurd was ordained deacon 
at St. Paul's in London, by Dr. Joseph Butler, 
Bishop of Bristol and Dean of St. Paul's, on 
letters dimissory from Dr. Gooch, Bishop of 
Norwich ; and we find him in temporary charge 
of the parish of Beymerston, a small rectory 
lying between Thetford and Norwich. To this 
sphere of duty he was probably introduced by 
another early friend and patron, to be mentioned 
in his next letter, the Bev. Cox Macro, of Norton, 
near Bury St. Edmund's, an eminent collector 
of books, manuscripts, and literary curiosities, 
whom he assisted in the gratification of his pecu- 
liar tastes.* 

Reymerston, July 16, 1742. 
Rev. Sir, — The hurry I have been in ever since I left 
Hatton will be an excuse to you for my not writing sooner. 
It will be needless to tell you, since you have heard it I 
suppose from Hatton, that I was ordained at London, 
that Dr. Macro has procured me a curacy which I can hold 



* See Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. pp. 359, 747. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



11 



with Keymerston, and that all difficulties are over with re- 
gard to this affair. I have very convenient lodgings, have 
met with very civil people, and, in short, am likely to live 
very comfortably. The only thing I want is such a friend 
as I left behind me at Beckbury. To say the truth, there 
is a wondrous scarcity of reputable clergymen in this 
country; sober are rare, but learned I have not heard of 
one near me. But this to my friend. 

I was at Cambridge last week to change my gown. The 
day after the Commencement Mr. Smalley * accepted of a 
college living, and the principal persons in the Society were 
so kind to signify to me their desire of choosing me into his 
Fellowship. I shall consider of it, but believe it will not be 
for my interest to appear as a candidate 

If you are curious to know particulars with regard to 
Eeymerston, &c. a letter or two which I sent to my father 
will inform you 

TO THE SAME. 

Reymerston, Sept. 24, 1742. 
July 28, and this September 24 ! A long time, I own, 
for so kind a letter from so kind a friend as Mr. Devey to 
remain unanswered; but I dare promise myself your pardon. 
I will not waste any of my paper in apologies, only in 
general give me leave to tell you that sermonizing has been 
the main cause. Your advice from Dr. Moor weighs much 
with me, but not more than it had in Mr. Devey's own 
words and name. Dr. Macro has been informed by Mr. 
Smalley (who accidentally called upon him one day) of the 
favour the college designed me. He seemed pleased at the 
information, but dissuaded my return to college, and added 
I might be sure in a little time of a second living. The 

* Nathaniel Smalley, Fellow of Emmanuel, B.D. 1737. 



12 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Doctor never mentioned the thing to me, which convinces 
me that he would be better pleased if I declined the offer, 
and I know myself under too many obligations to him to act 
contrary to his pleasure. I shall, therefore, in a few days 
write to Mr. Sm alley to cut out my name, and have resolved 
with myself, instead of reposing in the shade of a college, to 
trust my fortune to the world. I confess myself on this oc- 
casion something in the state of Adam on his leaving Para- 
dise. I cannot help reflecting, with some regret, on the 
place I am going entirely to forsake, and am every now 
and then turning a wishful eye back on those pleasant 
scenes from which I am about to banish myself for ever. 
The happy difference is, that I banish myself, and he was 
banished; in this, indeed, there is some comfort, otherwise 
the prospect of encountering an ill-natured world is none of 
the pleasantest. But I must change my theme, or I find 
I shall grow grave upon you. 

The people of Keymerston, whose character you inquire 
after, are said to be very honest, but very obstinate. I 
guess the remark is just, from what I've already seen of 

them I had almost forgot to tell you that there is a 

very rich, and consequently a very powerful, man in the 
town, with whom I am in huge favour. By means of Dr. 
Macro I have been introduced to the acquaintance of the 
Chancellor of Norwich* He is a very worthy, good- 
natured man; I have paid him a couple of visits, and have 
been treated by him with great civility. My good friend 
Mr. Macro spent the last week with me at Reymerston; only 
for a couple of days we made an excursion to Sir Andrew 
Fountaine's and Houghton. To describe the curiosities of 
these two places would require a volume, f Tis most un- 
fortunate that the masters of both of them should be rascals.) 
One, however, I must tell you of> — I saw my Lord Orford. 

* Robert Nash, LL.D., a Fellow of Wadham college, Oxford. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



13 



As I have tired myself a good deal to-day with writing a 
sermon, you'll excuse my talking to you thus by bits and 
scraps. I wish you'd give my duty to my father and 
mother, and say I wish to hear from them; please too to 
add my respects to my brothers. Dr. Delany's Life of David 
is completed in three volumes ; if you read it, as I dare say 
you will, I should thank you for your opinion of it in as 
full a manner as a letter will permit. Pray let me hear 
from you very soon: the correspondence of such friends as 
you, is one of the greatest pleasures I know ; at least in my 
present situation, in which, conversation, I mean such as 
one would like, is so hard to be come at. I shall consult 
my own happiness too much to let any letter of yours lie 
unanswered so long for the future. 

Poor Mr. Budworth ! 

TO THE SAME. 

In respect of the tithes of Eeymerston, which you are 
pleased to mention, I apprehend, not only that they cannot 
now, but that they cannot ever r by me be materially altered. 
The temper of the people is so resolutely obstinate, that upon 
any such attempt I am certain they would leave the church ; 
of which, though in the assertion of my just rights, I should 
think myself unhappy in being the occasion. The rent-day 
is over; and the income is (though not, indeed, this year on 
account of some deductions) a good eighty pounds. I am 
sensible, as you suggest to me, that it is worth much more ; 
but am assured it will never be in the power of that address 
you are so polite to compliment me upon, to advance it. 
And as to gathering, it is what I must never think of: for 
the inclosures are so small, so perplexed, and lie in such a 
manner, that the trouble of doing it would be infinite. 
Though in this case I am prudent enough to keep my 
thoughts to myself. They would otherwise be apt to take 



14 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



advantages. But I will trouble you no more on this head. 

As to Mr. Fitzer's books, I could like very well to 

purchase a part of them ; but at present cannot afford it. 
My late expenses in journeys, orders, degree, repairs, and 
some little conveniences in my rooms, have rose so high, that 
such a thing would be inconvenient. I am obliged to you, 
however, for mentioning it. 

Dr. Macro continues his favour to me in every way in 
which it can be expressed. I am welcome at all times to 
his study, and a noble one it is; and, what is still more 
valuable, to his advice and instructions in any branch of 
learning, either by conversation or letter. He is a very 
learned and amiable man, the most complete scholar and 
gentleman united that almost ever I saw. If I seem a little 
extravagant on the subject, you must excuse me, for his 
treatment of your unworthy friend is so obliging, that, 
whenever I mention his name, I am hurried by a sense of 
gratitude into encomiums. Though, really, in what I've 
said of him, "tis y if I know myself, the result, not of preju- 
dice, but of my best judgment. 

Since my last to you I am become very happy in a new 
neighbourhood. A very sensible and polite gentleman, a 
physician, has taken part of the house I live in for himself 
and family, which consists at present of an agreeable lady, 
his wife, and as agreeable a young lady, his wife's sister. 
We are vastly sociable : yesterday they drank tea with me, 
together with two more ladies and a strange gentleman. 
The lady that has taken my parsonage, and who was one 
of them, is the physician's wife's mother. These two 
families, together with my rich neighbour's, in which are 
also two ladies, his sister and niece, make Eeymerston 
quite a polite place. We have, and are soon to have, 
no less than a brace of chariots and a chaise at our church 
on Sundays. Could you have thought all this of my little 
village in the woodlands of Norfolk? I shall be impatient 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



15 



for your next, as I expect in it your judgment of King 
David. However, don't let me wait if you have not yet 
got it. 

My humble service to good Mrs. Devey. Please to tell 
her I have just read Pamela,* and am glad, for the credit 
of my judgment, that I agree with her in admiring it. 
Some people have thought it odd in me, but I really like 
Pamela in low life better than in high. I have not room 
now, or think I could give excellent reasons for my opinion. 
If I was as near you as I have been, what pleasure could 
I take in talking over this and a thousand other subjects 
with Mrs. Devey and your good self. Alas ! all I can now 
say is that I am hers and your most faithful humble 
servant, E. Hued. 

Mr. Hurd took the degree of M.A. in July, 
1742 ; and, notwithstanding his apparent resolu- 
tion to the contrary expressed in the preceding 
letters, he was in the same year elected Fellow of 
his College, to which he returned before March, 
1743 ; for in that month he thus writes to Mr. 
Devey : 

Emmanuel, March 28, 1743. 
Eey. Sir, — A succession of business of one kind or other 
prevented my answering that part of your letter which de- 
sired me to make inquiry about a Popish book called Charity 
and Truth.] I have asked Thurlbourn, our great bookseller, 
if he knew of any answer that had been made to it, and he 
told me that he had not so much as heard of the book itself. 
The Popish controversy is so entirely demolished, that we 

* Richardson's celebrated novel, first published in 1741. 
f By Edward Hawarden. Brussels, 1728. 8vo. 



16 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



now hear nothing at all of it ; at least it seems wholly over- 
looked at present by the University 

In a subsequent part of this letter Mr. Hurd 
speaks incidentally of his " unexpected return to 
college." 

REV. J. DEVEY TO REV. R. HURD. 

April 4, 1743. 

Dear Sir, — I thank you for inquiring about the book 
called " Charity and Truth." What answer I think proper 
to give to it, is not y with my consent, ever to appear public, 
and, indeed, as you observe, that controversy being entirely 
demolished, there's no occasion to revive it. But the motives 
that induced me to bestow a few strictures upon it are as 
follow. 

A certain gentlewoman in this neighbourhood, not un- 
known to you, being educated in the Eomish religion, but 
soon after marriage coming over to our Church, it gave some 
concern to her father and relations, too deeply embarked in 
the Catholic faith, as they are taught to call it, to hope for sal- 
vation out of their communion. They did not attack her 
directly, but sent her two books, — this above mentioned, and 
one other entitled "England's Conversion and Eeformation 
compared," as a bequest or legacy left to her by a friend at St. 
Omer's. The latter Dr. Trapp, some time after it appeared in 
England, answered.* The former, printed at Brussels, and 
sent over as a legacy, perhaps might escape a public view, or, 
what is more probable, being for the most part old stuff new 

* " Popery truly stated and briefly confuted. By Joseph Trapp, 
D.D. 1726." The book entitled " England's Conversion and Refor- 
mation compared," was by Robert Manning, 1725, Svo. See Dod's 
Catholic Church History, vol. iii. pp. 487, 488. 



BISHOP HUKD 



17 



furbished up in some sliape or other, already answered twenty 
times, not worth the notice of either of our universities. Be 
that as it will, it is given out by the party as a book un- 
answerable. And therefore having unguardedly said, after 
I had once perused it, — that it was no otherwise worthy of 
that character, but, as many things in it had been endeavoured 
to be supported as truths by chicanery and equivocation, the 
author had taken such things for granted, which are still in 

Oft" 

question to be proved, and - so endeavoured to pin such 
down who knew not better, or wish them to be truths, with 
bold and confident assertions, — I said enough, you may 
easily be persuaded, to become an advocate for my own 

opinion With services from wife and fireside, I am, 

dear Sir, your affectionate brother and faithful friend, 

Jo. D. 



TO THE REV. JOHX DEVEY. 

Emmanuel, Nov, 29, 1743. 
Reverend Sir, — I am at last sate down to answer your 
kind letter, especially that part of it where you intimate a 
desire of knowing Dr. Macro's objection to the Life of King- 
David, which, in as few words as possible, is as follows : — Dr. 
Delany had said, by way of alleviation of David's crime of 
murdering Uriah, that he icas under a hind of necessity of 
committing it, in order to protect Bathsheba, and, he thinks, 
himself, (vol. Hi. page 11,) from being punished with death 
by the Sanhedrim. But all this the doctor believes to be a 
mere surmise, in proof of which he urges the silence of 
Scripture history, which (notwithstanding what Delany says 
in his notes on the place) he insists upon being a very good 
argument, because the institution of the Sanhedrim was, as 
he proves very largely, an occasioned institution, or present 

C 



18 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



expedient for the relief of Moses, that by the addition of other 
rulers (all endued with gifts extraordinary as well as he ) 
the complaints of the people might not fall upon him, but be 
diverted in part upon others, and that by the joint influence of 
so many persons, all possessed with the spirit of government, 
they might either hinder or appease them. The solemnity, 
therefore, of the institution, which is the only thing that 
Delany opposes to the silence of Scripture, proves nothing. 
As to the Talmudists, Dr. Macro shews that their authority in 
this case is of little or no weight ; for besides, says he, that they 
are the worst historians in the world, they cannot otherwise 
support their traditions, which, they say, were handed down 
by their great Synagogue, but by asserting the antiquity of 
the Sanhedrim, and pretending that its original came from the 
Seventy Elders, Sfc, As to Jer. xxxviii. 5, the doctor ob- 
serves that the power of the princes there mentioned is 
nothing to the Sanhedrim. The matter, he adds, is only 
this, that, in those times of confusion and sedition, the King 
teas not able to protect Jeremiah from the grandees of the 
court, who were exasperated against him by reason of his 
threatening predictions. He concludes with observing, that 
not only the sacred writers, but even Josephus, Philo, Origen, 
Eusebius, and St. Jerome, who were all voell versed in the antient 
government of the Jews, make no mention of the Sanhedrim 
in the times we are now upon, and therefore that this universal 
silence in writers of all kinds is a very good argument, Sfc. He 
adds, as a further proof of the institution of the Sanhedrim's 
being of later date, that the very name is of Greek derivation, 
^vvehpiov, Lowth, p. 189, and takes notice, that the senators 
who were entrusted by the Macedonians with the adminis- 
tration of affairs were called XvveSpiot. 

This, Sir, is in substance what the Dr. has advanced, but 
I have done him great injury in throwing so connected and 
regular a discourse as he did me the honour to write me 
into such scraps. But a few hints to you will be enough, 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



19 



and indeed, I could not conclude the whole in a letter of 
any reasonable compass. 

I shall trouble you no further at present than just to add 
your son's compliments and my own. Your son is very 
well and very studious ; he and I have a little talk in a 
morning about Locke, in the Hall, when I receive such 
answers from him as almost persuade me that Mr. Locke 
will soon gain a new proselyte. 

TO THE SAME. 

Cambridge, Feb. 17, 1743-4. 

Eev« Sie, — I had the favour of your very obliging letter 
at Norton ;* but, through one avocation or other, have till now 
had no time to answer it. I thank you, Sir, for your just 
and learned remarks on the case of David : they tend much 
to confirm the sentiments of my other learned friend Dr. 
Macro, and have indeed, together with his, convinced me 
of the weakness of Dr. Delany's supposition. It is plain 
from your review of the Jewish History that the Sanhe- 
drim, if it existed then at all, was without any great power 
under David. Indeed it does not appear that they had 
any power at all, much less such a one as to endanger the 
life of the prince. 

I returned from Norton but last night, so that you see 
I made a hearty stay with my friends there. Indeed I was 
less solicitous to return, not only on account of the hearty 
welcome and obliging treatment I met with, but also as I 
had all the privileges and convenience for study that I could 
have had in College. Nay more, for the Dr. himself was 
so good as to become my instructor in form. I had inti- 
mated a desire of knowing something of Italian, as 'tis the 

* The residence of Dr. Cox Macro. 

c 2 



20 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



next fashionable language after French, and, as I had heard, 
of no great difficulty. Upon this, the Dr., (who is master of 
most of the modern languages, and, in particular, had learned 
Italian of Altieri, the famous author of the Italian Diction- 
ary in use,) at once undertook to teach it me ; and by the 
benefit of his instructions I am become a notable proficient. 

Nothing is talked of here but an invasion from the 

French. The Chevalier is at Paris, and we are to expect him 
here in a short time. Whatever there may be in this news 
it seems to have consternated the ministry. The Tower is 
trebly guarded, and so is Saint James's; and the soldiery 
have orders to be ready for action at an hour's warning. 
They are hasting, it seems, from all quarters of the kingdom, 
to London. I saw a regiment yesterday going through 
Newmarket. After all, I apprehend very little from this 
terror ; it seems a politic contrivance of the French to give 
a diversion to our men, and keep the English out of Ger- 
many. Let me know what is said in your part of the 
world. 

In May, 1744, Mr. Hurd was ordained Priest 
in the Chapel of Caius College by Dr. Gooch, 
Bishop of Norwich. His correspondence with 
his friend proceeds thus : 

TO THE REV. JOHN DEVET. 

Cambridge, 23 Aug. 1744. 
I return many thanks for your accurate letter on Mr. 
Chandler's tract,* which, though long in coming, was ex- 

* Probably " A Vindication of the History of the Old Testament, 
in answer to the misrepresentations and calumnies of Thomas Morgan, 
M.D., and the Moral Philosopher. By Samuel Chandler." 



OF BISHOP HUKD. 



21 



tremely welcome. I find that Dr. Macro and you agree in 
thinking it a clear, spirited, and useful piece, though it may 
not, as you observe, be without its blemishes. I am glad to 
hear you have got Mr. Arnald's book,* which by this time 
you must have read, for I know your diligence. In your next, 
therefore, which I beg may be soon, I shall take it a favour 
if you'll please to send me your thoughts upon it. You see 
the effects of your good nature ; but you know, the way of 
the world is to trouble those most, who are most obliging. 
The Vacation is always a dead time with us for literary 
news ; however, there is some little stirring. A countryman 
of ours, one Mr. Worthington, has lately published a chi- 
merical piece which he calls a Scheme of Kedemption,t 
wherein he endeavours to shew that we are gradually ad- 
vancing towards original virtue and happiness, and that the 
Eedemption of Jesus Christ will not be absolutely com- 
plete till His religion shall have freed mankind from every 
part of the curse, and convert the whole world, both in 
respect of innocence and pleasure, into a very paradise. 
Accordingly, he interprets Isaiah and the Prophets in such 
a manner as to draw them over to his own opinion, and 
understands all those figurative and poetical encomiums 
which they have poured out on the Evangelic age, in the 
exact, literal sense. What you think of this piece in Shrop- 
shire I know not 3 but here it passes with such as have read 
it for a strangely whimsical and enthusiastic performance. 
In the end of this famous tract, he has given a new interpre- 

* " A critical Commentary upon the Apocryphal Books. By 
Richard Arnald," 1744. A new edition, corrected by the Rev. J. R. 
Pitman, was published in 1822. 

f " An Essay on the scheme and conduct, procedure and extent, 
of Man's Redemption, wherein is shewn that this great work is to 
be accomplished gradually ; with a Dissertation on the design and 
argumentation of the Book of Job. By William Worthington," 
1743. 8vo. 



22 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



tation of the Book of Job, which puts me in mind of 
another piece of the literary kind, which is much talked of. 
Mr. Warburton in his Divine Legation took occasion to in- 
terpret the Book of Job in a manner very different from that 
of other commentators; which Dr. Eichard Grey animad- 
verted upon in the preface to his late Hebrew edition of 
that book. Mr. Warburton replied to Dr. Grey, but with 
so much acrimony as to spirit up the Dr. to fall upon him 
with a good deal of resentment. The pamphlet is reckoned 
to be well wrote, and with so much smartness as to be much 
admired by the enemies of Mr. Warburton. This, I think, 
is all the news I have at present. I will beg the favour of 
you to make my compliments to Mrs. Devey, the young 
ladies, and your son, and to our family at Hatton. Nor 
must I forget to thank you for your care in sending me an 
account of them when you write to me. Sir Edward 
Littleton* is very sober and studious, and gives me the 
hopes of seeing him one day a scholar and a worthy man. 
I am, with great respect, good Sir, your obliged humble 
servant, E. Hurd. 

In this year Mr. Hurd seems, from the date 
in the first page of his Common-place Book (still 
preserved in the Library of Hartlebury Castle), 
to have commenced the practice of extracting 
from, and commenting upon, the books he read, 
as well as of registering his own thoughts and 
reflections on subjects as they presented them- 
selves. This practice he continued throughout 
life, and of how great use the various informa- 
tion thus acquired was to him in his different 

* Sir Edward Littleton (who is fully noticed hereafter) was at this 
time a pupil of Mr. Hurd at Cambridge. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



23 



compositions, a comparison of these collections 
with his printed works plainly shows. Prom 
this source many valuable extracts will be found 
in the Second Part of the present work. 



TO THE KEY. MR. DEVEY. 

Cambridge, 25 May, 1745. 
I return abundance of thanks for your last, which gave 
me every way much pleasure, chiefly as it informed me 
how exactly my thoughts have coincided with yours con- 
cerning Mr. Worthington. For I know not how it happens, 
but it flatters the vanity of a young man very agreeably, 
to have his own random notions confirmed by a person 
of Mr. Devey's experience. Besides this general agreement 
of our thoughts, I thank you for those particular strictures 
you have obliged me with on his book, and which I entirely 
acquiesce in. This Dissertation on the Book of Job is, as 
you observe, a most strange performance. 

The attention of the learned world at present turns en- 
tirely almost on the author of the Divine Legation of 
Moses, who is mowing down his adversaries with as great 
zeal and success as ever old Bentley did before him. In- 
deed the superior genius and abilities of that writer gave 
him a very great advantage over all the gentlemen that 
have appeared against him, whatever may be determined 
finally of his cause. A piece he has just now published 
in answer to Dr. Stebbing and Sykes is very ingenious, 
but wrote with a severe satiric spirit peculiar to himself and 

his late friend Mr. Pope I must add for 

your and good Mrs. Devey's satisfaction, that your son is very 
well, and, as usual, very good. The only want of improve- 
ment I can discern in him is in point of smoking, which he 



M LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



still continues unacquainted with; and, though I would be 
very cautious of saying anything to the prejudice of so good 
a lady as Mrs. Devey, yet I must say that I verily believe 
that the want of this so necessary qualification in her son is 
wholly owing to her advice and precepts. In punishment 
of her, I cannot tell whether I may not take a pipe extra- 
ordinary myself when I see you. 

TO THE REV. JOHN DEVEY. 

Kev. Sir, — I am much obliged to you for Dr. Middle- 
ton's Letter, &c* I have read the additions over with much 
pleasure, and think he has defended his argument, not only 
against the author of the Catholic Christian, but Warburton 
himself Though, if there be any flaw in what regards this 
last, I doubt not but he'll soon hear of it. 

If you have got Veneer f upon the Articles I would beg, 
the favour of you to send it to me. Pray let me know how 
your son does, and what news, if he sends any, is stirring 
in Cambridge. 

I am, Sir, with service to Mrs. Devey and your son 
when you write, you obliged humble servant, K. Hurd. 

P.S. — A happy new year to you. Mr. Budworth sends 
services, and honest Roger twists in a compliment. 

* " A Letter from Rome, showing an exact conformity between 
Popery and Paganism, with a Prefatory Discourse in answer to a 
Popish writer ; and a Postscript, in which Mr. Warburton's opinion 
concerning the Paganism of Rome is considered. By Conyers Mid- 
dleton, D.D." 

f " An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of 
England. By John Veneer, Rector of St. Andrew, Colchester ;" first 
published in 1725, 



BISHOP KURD. 



25 



In the course of the year 1745, Mr. Hurd and 
his former pupil, Sir Edward Littleton, were on 
the road to pay a visit to their old master, Mr. 
Budworth, when they heard that he had been cut 
off by a fit of apoplexy. Sir Edward caused a 
monument to be erected to his memory in the 
Chapel of Shareshull near Brewood, with the 
following Latin inscription, which is ascribed to 
Mr. Hurd: 

M.S. 

Gullelmo Budworth, A.M. 
Hujus simul ac Ecclesise de Brewood nuper Pastori, 
necnon Literarii ibidem Ludi Prasfecto ; 
in utrumque munus, 
innocentia vitse, inorum comitate, 
hiunanioribus literis, eloquentia simplici 
instructissinio, 
in omnes perquam facili et benevolo, 
in amicos summe officioso, 
ab omni tamen erga homines illiberali obsequio, 
potentiorum asque cultu servili alienissimo. 
Huic tali viro, 
optimo olim praeceptori, 
amico insuper dilectissimo, 
hoc qualicunque amoris et grati animi testimonium 
P. C. 

Edvardus Littleton, Baronettus. M.DCC.XLVTII. 

Mr. Hurd's first literary work appears to hare 
been " Remarks on a late Book, entitled, An En- 
quiry into the Rejection of Christian Miracles by 
the Heathen, by William Weston, B.D. 1746." 
This work is learned and ingenious, and affords 
an early specimen of his skill in controversy, 



26 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



and dexterous use of that dangerous weapon, 
irony. 

TO MR. DEVEY. 

Cambridge, March 17, 1746-7. 
I have read over more than once your strictures on 
Mr. Chandler's Answer to the Moral Philosopher, and am 
pleased to find that in the main you agree with me in ap- 
proving that piece. As to what you observe about his 
notion of human sacrifices, I think that it appears from the 
quotations you have produced, to be at least disputable 
whether what Mr. Chandler has advanced about the high 
antiquity of them can be defended. As the matter, indeed, 
appears to me at present, I rather incline to your opinion, 
and am vastly obliged by the learned pains you have taken 
to confirm it. 

As I am so great a gainer by recommending books to 
you, I will take this opportunity of mentioning another 
piece, which has lately appeared on the side of religion, and 
which I believe you will be much pleased with. 'Tis a 
Defence of the Evangelical History of the Eesurrection, by 
Mr. West,* a gentleman who converted himself from Deism 
to Christianity by his own diligent inquiries, the result of 
which, so far as respects the Resurrection, which seems to 
have been a main difficulty with him, he has given us in 
this book. The Bishop of Salisbury,f who had the revisal 
of it before it went to the press, says, it is by much the best 
thing on the subject, which is a great deal for the author 
of the " Trial of the Witnesses " to say. The first part of 

* " Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection 
of Jesus Christ. By Gilbert West, LL.D." 
f Dr. Sherlock, afterwards Bishop of London. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



27 



this treatise you will find most curious, being a new method 
of accounting for the seeming inconsistencies in the Gospel 
narration. But I will not prevent your curiosity, which I 
think will be agreeably gratified in looking into this piece, 
and, if so, I shall expect to be favoured with some account 
of your entertainment. 

I beg my best services to Mrs. Devey and the young 
ladies, who are desired to suspend their displeasure till I 
come to confront that mischievous knave Mr. Binnel, who, 
I find, has taken the opportunity of my absence, to dress up 
such a story as he must expect to be called to an account 
for. It is a sad thing that Parsons, who are peace -makers 
by profession, should set folks together by the ears at this 
rate, and especially where a brother is concerned. 

Ds. Devey is well and sends compliments. Pray make 
mine to friends at Hatton, and Eyton. 

On the peace of Aix la Chapelle in the year 
1748, Mr. Hurd contributed to the Cambridge 
congratulations on that occasion the following 
stanzas. They are principally worthy of atten- 
tion as affording one of the very few instances of 
his attempts in poetical composition. 

ON THE PEACE OF AIX LA CHAPELLE 1748. 
By Mr. Hurd. 

Be still, my fears, suggest no false alarms ; 

The Poet's rapture and the lyric fire 
Are vain ; enough that inclination warms ; 

No foreign influence needs the willing Muse inspire. 

The willing Muse, adventurous in her flight, 

To thee, loved PEACE, shall raise the untaught strain ; 

Pier thy fair triumphs and thy arts delight, 

Thy festive branch she bears, and joins thy social train. 



28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



High on some wave-worn cliff she views serene 

Safe on the deep the freighted navies ride : 
Old Ocean joys to see the peaceful scene, 

And bids his billows roll with an exulting tide. 

Or where Augusta's turrets cleave the skies 

She loves to mix with Art's inventive band ; 
Sees Industry in forms unnumber'd rise, 

To scatter blessings wide and civilize the land. 

Or flies with transport to her native plain, 

See corn-clad fields, fresh lawns, and pastures fair ; 

Sees Plenty vindicate her ancient reign, 
And pour forth all her charms to crown the various year. 

But chief the Muse to academic groves 

Her kindred train and best-loved arts invite ; 
Thro' Cam's o'ershadowing bowers intranced she roves, 

Whence sacred science streams, and genius spreads his light. 

Here will I rest, she cried ; my laurel here 

Eternal blooms ; here hangs my golden lyre, 
Which erst my Spenser tun'd to shepherd's ear, 

And loftiest Milton smote with genuine epic fire. 

And O ! if aught my fond presages show, 

On these lov'd bowers while PEACE an influence sheds, 
Some hand again shall snatch it from the bough, 

Wake each high-sounding string, and charm the echoing glades. 

Then shall be sung the glorious deeds of war, 

How Virtue strove, where envious Fortune fail'd : 

Expecting Fame the conflict view'd from far, 

And Britain's valour crown'd, tho' Gallia's host prevail'd. 

Yet then, even then, (th' indignant verse shall tell,) 

A surer vengeance rose to whelm the foe ; 
When hell-born faction issued from her cell, 

And on her impious head drew half the destin'd blow. 

But hark ! the loud triumphant strains declare 

How Britain's majesty unrivall'd rose, 
When all the glories of the naval war 

Beam'd round her conquering flag, and circled Anson's brows. 



BISHOP HTFED. 



29 



Till thus the Power by freedom's sons obey'd : 

"Let blood-stain' d glory swell the tyrant's breast; 

Be mine compassion's healing wing to spread, 

To sheath the wasting sword, and give the nations rest." 

Then (as the Muse enraptur'd shall display) 

War's impious roar and faction's murmurs cease ; 

His gracious eye sheds lustre on the day, 

And lends the quickening beam to cheer the arts of PEACE. 

In the year 1749 Mr. Hurd published his well- 
known Commentary and Notes on Horace's Art 
of Poetry. It would justly be considered pre- 
sumptuous to pass a definite judgment upon a 
question so much controverted among critics as 
that concerning Mr. Hurd's theory of this cele- 
brated piece. Whether however his notion, that 
it is "a criticism, in the form of the didactic 
epistle, on the Roman drama in Horace's time," 
be admitted or not, one point, at least, will not 
be disputed, namely, that he has shown great in- 
genuity in the maintenance of his opinion; and 
that his notes contain a compass of learning, and 
a variety of refined and elegant criticism, which 
cannot be studied without profit and delight. 

In the fourth volume of Gibbon's Miscella- 
neous Works will be found an elaborate critique 
on this piece, written in the year 1762, display- 
ing much critical ability, and conceived in a fair 
and candid spirit. He does not in every case 
agree with Hurd's conclusions, but he often does; 
and he always speaks of the author's talents and 
learning with respect. In the opening of his 
critique he says ; 



30 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Mr. Hurd, the supposed author of this performance, is 
one of those valuable authors who cannot be read without 
improvement. To a great fund of well-digested learning, 
he adds a clearness of judgment and a niceness of penetra- 
tion capable of tracing things from their first principles, 
and observing their most minute differences. I know few 
writers more deserving of the great but prostituted name 
of critic; but, like many critics, he is better qualified to 
instruct, than to execute. His manner appears to me harsh 
and affected, and his style clouded with obscure metaphors, 
and needlessly perplexed with expressions exotic or tech- 
nical Horace's Art of Poetry, generally deemed 

an unconnected set of precepts without unity of design or 
method, appears under Mr. Hurd's hands an attempt to 
reform the Eoman stage, conducted with an artful plan, and 
carried on through the most delicate transitions. This 
plan is unravelled in Mr. Hurd's Commentary. If ever 
those transitions appear too finely spun, the concealed art 
of epistolary freedom will sufficiently account for it. The 
least Mr. Hurd must convince us of is, that if Horace had 
any plan it was that which he has laid down 

In 1783 George Colman the elder published a 
translation of the Ars Poetica, with a commen- 
tary, in which he broached the following opinion, 
grounded on that of some eminent continental 
critics ; viz. that the epistle was of a personal 
character, intended to warn the Pisos, who were 
in danger of committing themselves precipitately 
to dramatic composition, of the difficulties of the 
dramatic art, and of the disgrace and ridicule 
attending failure. It is stated that on this occa- 
sion Bishop Hurd said to Bishop Douglas of 
Salisbury, " Give my compliments to Colman, and 



BISHOP HURD. 



31 



thank him for the handsome manner in which he 
has treated me, and tell him that I think he is 
right." Dr. Joseph Warton and Dr. Beattie are 
said to have been also of Column's opinion. 

A recent writer on this subject (Mr. Wheeler 
of Trinity College, Dublin) says of the Bishop's 
Commentary, 

His work is evidently trie composition of an accomplished 
scholar, who united originality, penetration, and taste to the 
advantage of various reading: but at the same time it 
betrays the love of paradox, which he imbibed from 
Warburton — reasoning more subtle than solid— and advo- 
cacy more ingenious than successful. The editor, in 
truth, claims more admiration than the author; and, for 
my part, I feel persuaded that Hurd's Commentary and 
Notes contain a more valuable and better digested collec- 
tion of criticisms than Horace either wrote, or intended to 
write. 

It is difficult, amidst so much that is excellent, 
to select particular passages ; but the following 
may serve as examples of the author's vein of 
criticism, as well as of his style and manner. In 
his note on line 244, speaking of pastoral poetry, 
he says : 

The prodigious number of writings called pastoral, which 
have been current in all times, and in all languages, shews 
there is something very taking in this poem. And no 
wonder, since it addresses itself to the leading principles of 
human nature, the love of ease, the love of beauty, and the 
moral sense: such pieces as these being employed in 
representing to us the tranquillity, the innocence, and the 
scenery of the rural life. 



32 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



" A happy example, 55 remarks Mr. Green,* 
" of a solution exact and complete in all its parts, 
and which leaves nothing wanting to give abso- 
lute and entire satisfaction to the mind of the 
inquirer. 55 

The proper training of the dramatic poet is 
thus justly indicated, at line 309 : 

" The boast of his art is to catch every different aspect of 
nature, and more especially to exhibit the human character 
in every varying light and form under which it presents 
itself. But this is not to be done without an exquisite 
study and philosophical knowledge of man; to which end 
the Socratic philosophy is more peculiarly adapted. Add 
to this, that it is the genius of true poetry, not only to ani- 
mate but to personalize every thing; omnia debent esse 
morata. Hence the indispensable necessity of moral science : 
all poetry being in effect what Mr. Dryden somewhere 
calls comedy, ' the theft of poets from mankind/ " 

In a note on line 286 he thus judiciously 
limits the era for subjects of tragedy : 

I will only add, that, for the more successful execution of 
the rule of celebrating domestic acts, much will depend on 
the era from whence the subject is taken. Times too remote 
have almost the same inconveniences, and none of the advan- 
tages, which attend the ages of Greece and Eome. And for 
those of later date, they are too much familiarised to us, and 
have not as yet acquired that venerable cast and air which 
tragedy demands, and age only can give. There is no fixing 
this point with precision. In the general that era is the fittest 
for the poet's purpose which, though fresh enough in our 
* Of Ipswich. See " Diary of a Lover of Literature." 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



33 



minds to warm and interest us in the event of the action, is 
yet at so great a distance from the present times as to have 
lost all those mean and. disparaging circumstances which una- 
voidably adhere to recent deeds, and, in some measure, sink 
the noblest modern transactions to the level of ordinary life." 

Of Shakspeare he thus speaks in the same note : 

" Our Shakspeare was, I think, the first that broke through 
the bondage of classical superstition ; and he owed this 
felicity, as he did some others, to his want of what is called 
the advantage of a learned education. Thus, uninfluenced 
by the weight of early prepossession, he struck at once into 
the road of nature and common sense; and, without design- 
ing — without knowing it, hath left us in his historical 
plays, with all their anomalies, an exacter resemblance of 
the Athenian stage, than is anywhere to be found in its 
most professed admirers and copyists." 

In the following passage from a note on line 
310, the critical reader will observe how clearly 
the author foresaw, and how exactly he predicted, 
the present state of our literature and language : 

" When a language, as ours at this time, hath been much 
polished and enriched with perfect models of style in almost 
every way, it is in the order of things that the next step 
should be to a vicious affectation. For the simplicity of true 
taste under these circumstances grows insipid; something 
better than the best must be aimed at ; and the reader's lan- 
guid appetite raised by the provocatives of an ambitious 
refinement. And this in sentiment as well as language." 



D 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



SECTION II. 

We come now to a most important incident 
in Mr. Hurd's Life — his introduction to Mr. 
Warburton. This was to Hurd, what Warbur- 
ton's introduction to Pope had been to him, the 
turning point of his fortunes. On what precise 
occasion, or at what exact time, they met, does 
not appear. It would have been gratifying to 
meet with some record of the first encounter of 
two men destined to be linked in so close and 
unbroken an intimacy through life. What ap- 
pears evidently to have been the beginning of 
their correspondence is, a letter from Warburton, 
which opens the collection of cc Letters of a Late 
Eminent Prelate," &c. It is dated June 1,1749, 
and acknowledges, in warm and characteristic 
terms, the following graceful compliment paid to 
him by Hurd at the end of the Introduction to his 
Comment on the Ars Poetica. 

For the kind of interpretation itself, (i. e. by way of 
commentary,) it must be allowed, of all others, the fittest to 
throw light upon a difficult and obscure subject* and* above 
all, to convey an exact idea of the scope and order of any 
work. It hath, accordingly, been so considered by several 
of the foreign, particularly the Italian, critics; who have 
essayed long since to illustrate in this way the very piece 
before us. But the success of these foreigners is, I am sen- 



BISHOP HTJB.D. 



35 



sible, a slender recommendation of their method. I choose 
therefore to rest on the single authority of a great author, 
who, in his edition of our English Horace, the best that ever 
was given of any classic, hath now retrieved and established 
the full credit of it. What was the amusement of his pen 
becomes indeed the labour of inferior writers. Yet, on 
these unequal terms, it can be no discredit to have aimed at 
some resemblance of one of the least of those merits which 
shed their united honours on the name of the illustrious 
friend and commentator of Mr. Pope. 

Warburton's letter above-mentioned seems to 
have preceded the following equally well-turned 
compliment addressed to Kurd in a note to the 
" Essay on Criticism," line 632, 

" But where's the man," &c. 

He answers, that he (the true critic) was to be found 
in the happier ages of Greece and Eome, in the persons 
of Aristotle and Horace, Dionysius and Petronius, Quin- 
tilian and Longinus: whose characters he has not only 
exactly drawn, but contrasted them with a peculiar ele- 
gance ; the profound science and logical method of Aristotle 
being opposed to the plain common sense of Horace, 
conveyed in a natural and familiar negligence ; the study 
and refinement of Dionysius to the gay and courtly 
ease of Petronius ; and the gravity and minuteness of Quin- 
tiliaii to the vivacity and general topics of Longinus. Nor 
has the poet been less careful, in these examples, to point 
out their eminence in the several critical virtues he so care- 
fully inculcated in his precepts. Thus, in Horace he par- 
ticularizes his candour, in Petronius his good breeding, in 
Quintilian his free and copious instruction, and in Longinus 
his great and noble spirit. By this question and answer, 

D 2 



36 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



we sec, he does not encourage us to search for the true 
critic amongst modern writers. And indeed the discovery 
of him, if it could be made, would be but an invidious 
business. I will venture no further than to name the piece 
of criticism in which these marks may be found. It is en- 
titled " Q. Hor. Fl. Ars Poetica, et ejusd. Ep. ad Aug., 
with an English Commentary and Notes." 

The mutual mention of eacli other in such 
warm and nattering terms must have been a 
most auspicious commencement of their friend- 
ship ; and the uninterrupted continuance of that 
friendship for so many years affords a strong pre- 
sumption that each spoke his real sentiments of 
the other. Should any surprise be felt at so 
strict and enduring an intimacy having subsisted 
between men of characters so dissimilar, it will 
be abated by the following considerations. In 
the first place, their sentiments, both religious 
and political, their taste in literature, and their 
studies, were almost exactly similar. This was a 
strong bond of union. In the next place, their 
very dissimilarity of natural disposition, para- 
doxical as the remark may seem, was another 
cementing influence ; the calm and dispassionate 
temper of Hurd enabling him to make an allow- 
ance for any ebullition of feeling in an impetuous 
friend, whilst his tact and dexterity fitted him in 
a peculiar manner to avoid rough points of con- 
tact, and thus to keep clear of offence, and main- 
tain harmonious agreement. It may be added, 
that they were both upright and independent 



BISHOP ETJRD. 



37 



men, equally holding all baseness in contempt ; 
and each inspired with a sincere respect for the 
other. There was also that tie, so strict and 
sacred in generous natures, which consists in 
benefits frankly bestowed on the one part, and 
gratefully felt and acknowledged on the other. 
These points, which stand out so prominently in 
their history and correspondence, seem fully to 
account for the strength and constancy of their 
attachment amidst the discrepancy of their natural 
qualities and dispositions. 

Mr. Hurd, in a letter to his friend and patron, 
thus describes the origin and progress of his re- 
spect for him and his works. 

Cambridge, Dec. 30, 1756. 

For the first years of my residence in the university, 
when I was labouring through the usual courses of logic, 
mathematics, and philosophy, I heard little of your name 
and writings. And the little I did hear was not likely to 
encourage a young man that was under direction to in- 
quire further after either. In the mean time, I grew up 
into the use of a little common sense ; my commerce with 
the people of the place was enlarged. Still the clamours 
increased against you, and the appearance of your second 
volume opened many mouths. I was then B.A., and, having 
no immediate business on my hands, I was led by a spirit 
of perverseness to sec what there was in these decried 
volumes that had given such offence. 

To say the truth, there had been so much apparent 
bigotry and insolence in the invectives I had heard L though 
echoed, as was said, from men of note amongst us, that I 
wished, perhaps out of pure spite, to find them ill-founded. 



38 LIPE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



And I doubt I was half determined In your favour before 
I knew any thing of the merits of the case. 

The effect of all this was, that I took the Divine Legation 
down with me into the country, where I was going to spend 
the summer of, I think, 1740, with my friends. I there read 
the three volumes at my leisure, and with the impression I 
shall never forget. I returned to college the winter follow- 
ing, not so properly your convert, as all over spleen and 
prejudice against your defamers. From that time, I think, 
I am to date my friendship with you. There was some- 
thing in your mind, still more than in the matter of your 
book, that struck me. In a word, I grew a constant reader 
of you. I inquired after your other works. I got the 
Alliance into my hands; and met' with the Essay on Por- 
tents and Prodigies, which last I liked the better, and still 
like it, because I understood it was most abused by those 
who owed you no good will. Things were in this train, 
when the Comment on Pope appeared. That Comment, 
and the connexion I chanced then to have with Sir Edward 
Littleton, made me a poor critic. And in that condition 
you found me. I became on the sudden your acquaint- 
ance ; and am now happy in being your friend. You have 
here a slight sketch of my history ; at least of the only part 
of it which will ever deserve notice. (Letters, xcn.) 

Hurd was introduced by Warburton to his dis- 
tinguished friends Mr. Murray and Mr. Charles 
Yorke, to whom his solid learning, his refined 
taste, the purity of his life, and the native ele- 
gance of his manners soon recommended him 
as an associate and a friend ; and to whose good 
offices he was principally indebted for his future 
advancement in life. 



BISHOP HURD. 



39 



Among Mr. HurcVs chosen companions at 
Cambridge was Mr., afterwards Dr., Thomas Bal- 
guy, of whom the following short notice may 
form a proper prelude to his correspondence with 
that learned and estimable person — a correspond- 
ence terminating only with the life of Dr. Balguy. 

Thomas Balgtjy was the only son of the Rev. 
John Balguy, Vicar of Northallerton, and Pre- 
bendary of Salisbury. He was educated at the 
Grammar-school, Ripon, and afterwards at St. 
John's College, Cambridge, where he obtained 
a Fellowship, and became subsequently Tutor, 
and deputy Public Orator. He was tutor to the 
Duke of Northumberland, and collated by Bishop 
Hoadley to a Stall in Winchester Cathedral, and 
to the Archdeaconry of Hants. In 1781 he was 
nominated to the See of Gloucester, but per- 
mitted to decline it on account of his infirmities. 
He died in 1795. Bishop Hurd in his Life of 
Warburton says of him that, " He was a person 
of extraordinary parts and extensive learning, 
indeed of universal knowledge ; and, what is so 
precious in a man of letters, of the most exact 
j udgment . ' ' How much deference the Bishop paid 
to him in the last point many of the following 
letters fully attest. Dr. Parr also, in a note to 
his Preface to "Tracts by "Warburton and a 
Warburtonian," attributes to Mm " solid learn- 
ing, an erect and manly spirit, habits of the most 
exact and enlarged thinking, and a style equally 



40 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



pure, elegant, and nervous." Between this 
learned and excellent person and both Bishops 
Warburton and Hurd there subsisted a long 
and most unreserved friendship, evidenced in 
Bishop Hurd's case by the following letters, and 
in Bishop Warburton' s by a yet more interesting 
and important series, still in MS., and in the 
hands of the Bev. John T. Allen, Vicar of Strad- 
brook, Suffolk, by whom, as I have before 
observed, this collection was most kindly con- 
tributed. It is much to be feared that Dr. 
Balguy's part of the correspondence is not extant. 
The Editor has not been able to discover more 
than one or two of his letters to Bishop Hurd, 
and he was informed by the late Eev. Martin 
Stafford Smith, who had been Chaplain to Bishop 
Warburton, that he (Mr. S.) had, much against 
his will, been himself instrumental, by Mrs. W's 
direction (in fulfilment of the Bishop's express 
injunction) in destroying a vast mass of corre- 
spondence with eminent characters both at home 
and abroad. 

Dr. Balguy's works, consisting of his treatise, 
" The Divine Benevolence asserted against an- 
cient and modern Sceptics," and Sermons and 
Charges published in his life-time, were collected 
and republished, with additions, by his son-in-law 
Dr. Drake, in two volumes, in the year 1818. 
With all the clearness of Paley, these works dis- 
play an. equal, if not deeper, reach of thought, and 
incomparably more learning; but, amidst the 



BISHOP HTJBD. 



revolutions and caprices of literary taste, are novr 
seldom found but on the shelves of the curiously 
learned. 

REV. MB. HURD TO REV. MR, BALGUT. 

Cambridge. 18 Aug. 1749. 

To enliven, or at least relieve, this solitude 

I have taken to my long-neglected fiddle. You can't 
imagine what pains I am at, and how fast I improve under 
the forming hand of Mr. Fischer. Xot a o-rain of taste. 

O O 7 

but a wonderful exactness of fingering, bowing, &c. This 
is the grammar of music ; the flourish of rhetoric is to come 
after, if indeed it ever comes, which, to say the truth, 
I much doubt ; for this fit can never last long, and 
Xovember and vou will furnish better amusements. But 
'tis something to keep awake in the meantime. I have 
said the more on this frivolous subject to shew you that, if 
this indolent summer should turn out iR pour la santt, you 
are not to place it to the account of my books, which, you 

will hereby understand, are quite guiltless 

A tew days ago I received a packet from Prior Park. 
It contained, besides a letter, (in which is a curious para- 
graph concerning two great persons, altogether esoteric.) 
the MS. notes on Mr. Pope's Imitation of the Epistle to Au- 
gustus, sent, as he* says, "to convince me how much a 
comment on that piece of Horace is wanting. ^ You may 
be sure it had not this effect ; at least I was not to own 
it. My answer however was drawn in such a way as to 
leave me at liberty either to decline or follow his advice as 
I may find myself disposed to either. But this is of small 

* Evidently Dr. TVarburton. See Letters III. and IV. Warbur- 
ton and Kurd's Correspondence. 



42 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



moment. You will ask after the notes themselves. They 
arc, many of them, very curious, especially some which give 
us the character of eminent writers,* as Lord Shaftesbury, 
Bishop Sprat, Mr. Addison, and Dr. Bentley. I am pleased 
with the last, which does justice to the great critic. Two 
or three notes are purposely brought in to abuse bishops. 
This delights me, for reasons you will easily guess at. There 
are besides some ingenious criticisms. On the whole 1 like 
the notes extremely, and believe you will when you see 
them. To inform you more particularly of them would be 
to transcribe them. He observes in his letter that he has 
written comments as well as notes on all the moral epistles* 
The editor will certainly be clever. Dear Sir, your most 
affectionate and faithful servant, K. Hurd. 

In May 1750, by Warburton's recommendation 
to Sherlock, Bishop of London, Mr. Hurd was ap- 
pointed one of the Preachers at Whitehall. 

"At this period," says Mr. Chalmers, "the 
University of Cambridge was disturbed by internal 
divisions occasioned by an exercise of discipline 
against some of its members who had been 
wanting in respect to those invested with its 
authority. A punishment having been inflicted 
on some delinquents, they refused to submit to 
it, and appealed from the Vice-Chancellor's 
jurisdiction. The right of the University, and 
those to whom its power was delegated, becoming 
by this means the subject of debate, several 
pamphlets appeared. Among these Mr. Hurcl 

* For these characters, which are drawn with Warburton's usual 
spirit, see his edition of Pope. 



BISHOP HTJRB. 



43 



wrote " The Opinion of an eminent Lawyer (the 
Earl of Hardwicke) concerning the Eight of 
Appeal from the Vice- Chancellor of Cambridge 
to the Senate ; supported by a short Historical 
Account of the Jurisdiction of the University, in 
answer to a late pamphlet entitled ' An Inquiry 
into the Eight of Appeal from the Vice- Chan- 
cellor, &c. by a Fellow of a College/ 1751." This 
passed through three editions, and is inserted in 
his Works. His opponent on this occasion was 
Dr. Thomas Chapman, afterwards Master of Mag- 
dalen College. (See Letters of a Late Eminent 
Prelate, &c. gxli. cxlii.) 

The Commentary on the Ars Poetica was 
followed in 1751 by that on the Epistle to 
Augustus. This fine piece he characterises as 
" An Apology for the Poets of his own time." 
In conducting it, the poet, after holding up to 
ridicule a narrow and exclusive admiration of the 
ancients, sets forth the various merits of the 
poets of his own date, and throws the blame of 
the neglect shown to them on the prevalent bad 
taste of the age, and on certain emergent circum- 
stances. Of this piece Warburton, writing to 
Balguy the same year, says : "It is an admirable 
thing, and will be always read with new plea- 
sure." Gibbon considers it as far superior to 
that on the Ars Poetica, and pronounces the 
explanation at v. 16 of the allegory which opens 
Virgil's third Georgic, 66 exquisitely fine." (Mis- 
cellaneous Works, vol. iv. p. 152.) Mr, Green of 



44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 

Ipswich says of the same explanation, ce If it be 
chimerical, it is wrought out with exquisite art, 
and ultimately displayed with matchless effect." 
He also speaks of many of Mr. Hurd's critical 
remarks on v. 97, 210, 214, as "just, profound, 
and philosophical." (Diary, pp. 41, 221.) 

TO THE SAME. 

Inner Temple, 19th March, 1750-1. 
Dear Sir, — I expect to be believed when I assure you 
that no one can possibly be more tender of your reputation 
than I am, and that therefore I should never have pressed 
you to give leave to have your papers inserted in my 
medley, but that I was convinced they would be as much to 
your credit as to the ornament of my trifling book. Mr. 
Warburton's strong approbation of them satisfied me that I 
was not mistaken in this opinion. And, notwithstanding all 
you say, I must still think you could suffer no other 
dishonour from their insertion, than what might arise from 
the circumstance of their being found in such company. 
However, as the apprehension you are in of the opinion of 
the multitude (which surely is more scrupulous than 
your great merit needs subject you to,) inclines you to 
think otherwise, I forbear to trouble you any further about 
them. 

Yet your refusal lays me under great difficulties. I 
cannot think of dressing up your thoughts in worse language 
of my own. And to take the merit of so long a note to 
myself, and especially as given in your own words, is down - 
right impudence. Besides, for want of your last hand to 
the papers I have, (for the new paragraph you have sent is 
not, I think, so applicable to my purpose as that I wished 



BISHOP HUPvD. 



45 



you to correct for rne.) I am reduced to the necessity of 
omitting a very material part of them, or of injuring your 
sense by my tampering with them. Yet all these diffi- 
culties I am willing to struggle with, in order to shew you 
that I dare take the disgrace of the whole upon myself; 
which I will do with as little alteration of your words and 
method as possible; in hopes that the success of it, of 
which I have no doubt, will procure your leave for me to 
give it. in a second edition, to its rightful owner.* 

I wish you had seen Mr. Allen. He comes up to the 
notion of my favourites in Queen Elizabeth's reign: good 
sense in conjunction with the plainest manners — simplex et 
nuda verita-s. I dined with him yesterday, where I met Mr. 
Fielding, t — a poor emaciated, worn-out rake, whose gout 
and mnrmities have * got the better even of his buffoonery. 

You lost a great pleasure in not seeing the pictures at 
Devonshire House, which Lord George J was so kind as to 
shew me. I mentioned your short stayin town (for I supposed 
it likely he would hear of you) and your indisposition, and 
your great concern that you could not wait upon him. He 
spoke very kindly of you, and desired his compliments. 

Is this pamphlet with the motto "Est genus hominum.'" 
&c. from Magdalen? Mr. TYarburton says he perceives 
this is the hon-mot of the party. From what Mr. Balguy 
relates of a conversation with Chapman, I pronounce him 
to be, what I always took him for, an insolent coxcomb. § 

I am ashamed in the same page to send my services and 
name the names of Mr. Powell and Mr. Allen. Let me 

* This probably refers to assistance rendered by Dr. Balguy to the 
il Inquiry into the Right of Appeal, &c."' mentioned above, 
t Henry Fielding, the celebrated novelist. 

\ Lord George Cavendish, second son of William third Duke of 
Devonshire, born 1723, died unmarried 1794. 

§ "A man of great eminence said he had as high an opinion as I 
could have of the merits of Mr. Balguy and Mr. Hurd, — that he had 
some personal knowledge of them : but 1 est genus hominum qui 



46 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



hear from you at your leisure, and believe me to be your 
most entirely faithful and affectionate friend and servant, 

K. Hurd. 

The mention of Mr. Allen in the preceding 
letter leads to the remark that, early in this 
year, Mr. Hurd received from him through Mr. 
Warburton an invitation, probably his first, to 
Prior Park. Prom this time he continued to be 
a frequent visitor at that scene of elegant hospi- 
tality, where he enjoyed the best and most ac- 
complished society, and secured in so great a 
degree the respect and affection of Mr. and Mrs. 
Allen, that he was engaged by a promise to per- 
form the last offices of religion for them both, on 
their decease. In his Life of Warburton, Bishop 
Hurd has paid the following tribute to the high 
and estimable character of Mr. Allen. 

He was a man of plain good sense, and the most benevo- 
lent temper. He rose to great consideration by farming the 
cross-posts, which he put into the admirable order in which 
we now (1788) find them; very much to the public advan- 
tage, as well as his own. He was of that generous compo- 
sition, that his mind enlarged with his fortune; and the 
wealth he so honourably acquired, he spent in a splendid 
hospitality, and the most extensive charities. His house, in 
so public a scene as that of Bath, was open to all men of 

esse primos.' I said, whoever had thus represented them to him 
had vilely injured them, for they were the very reverse of this 
character. But I would tell him one thing,— that they were indeed 
the first; the others had got the rewards due to such." (MS. Letter 
of Warburton to Balguy, Feb. 7, 1750-1.) 



BISHOP HTJRD. 47 

rank and wealth, and especially to men of distinguished 
parts and learning, whom he honoured and encouraged; 
and whose respective merits he was enabled to appreciate 
by a natural discernment and superior good sense, rather 
than by any acquired use and knowledge of letters. His 
domestic virtues were above all praise. With these qualities 
he drew to himself an imiversal respect, and possessed in a 
high degree the esteem of Mr. Pope, who in one of his Moral 
Essays has done justice to his modest and amiable character. 

To this masterly sketch it needs only to be 
added, that Mr. Ralph Allen was born of hum- 
ble parents at St. Blazey in Cornwall, in 1694, 
and died in 1764. 

TO REV. ME. BALGUY. 

Cambridge, 26 Sept. 1752. 
.... I should say something to hasten your return hither, 
but that I am proposing to set out for Prior Park next 
week. And my benevolence, — though I verily believe it, 
in spite of what Lord Bolingbroke prates, to be an innate 
principle, — yet does not act so forcibly as to make me so much 
concerned for my friends as myself. Though you will find 
Mason here, who talks of fitting up his Faithful Shepherdess , 
as being in some apprehension that Boyce and Garrick will 
force it from him. Betwixt ourselves, he keeps wretched 
company. I saw him yesterday speak to Green of Cot^ 
tenliam and S. Jennens,* Esq.; and the morning, he 
owned to me, was entirely spent in chit-chat with Daniel 

* Soaine Jenyns, Esq., of St. John's college, afterwards one of the 
Lords of Trade, and author of several essays. See Cole's character of 
him in Nichols's Literary Illustrations, viii. 575. 



48 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



Wray.* The device of tlie duke's medal f was part of the 
conversation. Nothing can be more wretched. Granta is 
another Cybele with towers on her head. She is shew- 
ing three bachelors of arts the way to the Senate-house, 
and the motto is studiis humanitatis. Voila l'invention 
et le genie de la Societe des Antiquaires de Londres ! 
i 

Prior to the year 1753 Mr. Hurd contested un- 
successfully the Tutorship of his College with the 
Rev. James Bickham, another of the Fellows of 
Emmanuel (afterwards Hector of Loughborough) 
an inferior scholar, who was elected, it is con- 
jectured, from political motives, Mr. Bickham 
having the support of the seniors of the College, 
who were Tories, and Mr. Hurd being a Whig. 

TO REV. MR. BALGUY. 

Devereux Court, 14 March, 1753. 

Dear Sir, — I thank you for your kind letter. I have 
the pleasure to inform you that Dr. Heberden is quite re- 
covered from his late illness, which, to the disgrace of tem- 
perance, ended in a fit of the gout. Besides its other 
ravages, it has stripped the doctor of a good deal of that 
flesh, with which, as you know, his bones were so unmer- 
cifully encumbered. He took your compliment, which I 
reported to him, very kindly 

Mr. Warburton has seen a thing against the Newtonian 

* Daniel Wray, esq. F.R.S. and F.S.A., a Deputy Teller in the 
Exchequer, a memoir of whom by Mr. Justice Hardinge was published 
in the first volume of Nichols's Illustrations of Literature. 

t The Chancellor's gold medal, at Cambridge was first given in the 
year 1751 by Thomas Holies, Duke of Newcastle, then Chancellor of 
the University. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



49 



philosophy in favour of Hutcliinson by one Home * of 
Oxford, and thinks it would be a good employment for 
some Cambridge Soph to answer it. 

Mr. Allen's family is come to town, and betwixt them and 
my other friends I hardly know when I can make my 
escape from this place 

I am a little of Pope's humour, to love a courtier in dis- 
grace. This, and a little business I had with him, carried 
me this morning to my Lord Bishop of Norwich.f The 
oily smoothness of this prelate ran over upon me in all 
manner of civilities, and I am to eat a bit of mutton with 
him on Sunday. 

The present state of the Theatres confirms my theory of 
the Drama. A fine old enchanting story of our own, in 
the Earl of Essex, X to °k very much with the town, not- 
withstanding the clumsy execution of an Irish bricklayer. 
" The Brothers ,' ? § though an infinitely better play, has 
worse success. The story, though it reads finely in Livy, 
is a bad one for a tragedy; and is, indeed, but ill managed. 
The dresses and other decorations are prodigiously splendid. 
It was well acted, and yet if this virtuous age had not been 
fired with a primitive zeal for the propagation of Christianity, 
nothing, I believe, could have saved it from the poet's hell. 
The pleading before the King had the best effect in the 
representation, for which, as well as I remember, great 
thanks are due to Livy. The character of Perseus is much 
the best, but outraged, as almost every thing indeed is. 

* George Home, afterwards Bishop of Norwich. The essay 
was entitled " A fair, candid, and impartial state of the case between 
Sir Isaac Xewton and Mr. Hutchinson," and will be found in the sixth 
volume of Bishop Home's collected works, 8vo. 1809. 

t Thomas Hayter, who was bishop from 1749 to 1761. 

I By Mr. Henry Jones. See Biographia Dramatica, ii. p. 152. 

§ By the celebrated poet Dr. Edward Young. See Biographia 
Dramatica, ii. p. 78. 

E 



50 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



This Night Thinker has deepened the horror of some parts 
so much that the raven hour of darkness, to speak in 
Shakespeare's phrase, does not smile, but frown. However, 
the smile is not lost : it is only transferred elsewhere. 

Poor Mason is a wretched politician. He has taken it 
into his head to serve a friend, but has contrived such a way 
of doing it as, if the world knew it, would disgrace the very 
name of poetry. He wrote me a long letter about getting 
a Commissioner's place of Bankrupts from my Lord Chan- 
cellor, which he supposes may be done by & friend's asking for 
it. I referred him, as my Lord Archbishop of York* would 
have done, to parliamentary interest. When will these 
simple-minded men of Parnassus learn a little prudence ? 

Speaking of Parnassus puts me in mind to tell you that 
Mr. Warburton has found in Pope's library an edition of 
Bishop Hall's Satires,t with many expressions of admiration 
in the margin. The last of those satires, I think, is marked 
throughout in his own hand. And Mr. Warburton con- 
jectures he had designed to versify it, as he had done 
some of Donne's. You may be sure I triumph in this 
discovery 

Ever most entirely yours, E. Hurd. 

Cambridge, 27 Sept. 1753. 
Poor Mason's affliction you have heard of. He has lost 
his father: and since that two servants have died out of the 
family, and his mother is now ill. All this looks like a 
contagious fever, which alarms us all exceedingly for him : 
besides we fear his situation in other respects is but indif- 
ferent. Pray write a word to him, if you have not already. 
Advise him to come away from Hull, or say anything else 
to him that you please. Anything from a friend on these 
occasions carries some comfort with it 

* Dr. Matthew Hutton, translated to Canterbury 1757. 

f This is still preserved in the Library of Hartlebury Castle. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



51 



(No date.) 

My most honoured Friend, — After my hearty re- 
spects and commendations premised. Our cordial and 
singular well-wisher^ the Master of Benet,* having on the 
instant signified unto me his loving intention of honouring 
his poor servant with his company this afternoon, I could 
not choose but give you this notice, most earnestly wishing 
you a part in this enjoyment, if so be you have not mishaply 
bounden yourself to any precedent engagement elsewhere. 
I will further acknowledge myself indebted to your courtesy 
for furthering this invitation to our respected acquaintance 
Mr. Powell,t provided you think of his discretion in such 
sort, as that he will not be forward to interpose any med- 
dling concerning Bishop Fisher's small scarf e, or such like 
unseemly talk, upon so grave and reverend a personage. 
And so, commending you to your wonted prudence to deter- 
mine as seemeth you fit, I rest, in all bounden service, your 
friend at commandment, Richard Hurd. 

Emmanuel, Monday morning. 

Dear Sir, — We had some chat last night at your 
Chamber about that sort of characters which, for want of a 
better word, I barbarously called mawkish. On coming 
home I found a book of Characters on my table, and, open- 
ing it, happened to fall on one which exactly answers to my 
idea, though I knew not how to express it. Pray shew it to 
Dr. Ogden,^ and tell him if you please, (to gain it the 
greater reverence) that it comes from a Bishop. 

My mawkish man, then, " is one that would fain run an 

* John Green, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. 

f The Rev. William Samuel Powell, afterwards (in 1765) Master 
of St. John's (see p. 93). 

\ Samuel Ogden, D.D., Fellow of St. John's, Cambridge, Master 
of Halifax School 1744—1753 ; Woodwardian Professor 1764. 

E 2 



52 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



even path in the world, and jnt against no man. His en- 
deavour is not to offend, and his aim the general opinion. 
His conversation is a kind of continued compliment, and 
his life a practice of manners. The relation he bears to 
others a kind of fashionable respect, not friendship, but 
friendliness, which is equal to all and general, and his kind- 
nesses seldom exceed courtesies. He loves not deeper mu- 
tualities, because he would not take sides, nor hazard him- 
self in displeasures, which he principally avoids. At your 
first acquaintance with him he is exceedingly kind and 
friendly, and at your twentieth meeting after but friendly 
still. He has an excellent command over his patience and 
tongue, especially the last, which he accommodates always 
to the times and persons, and speaks seldom what is sincere, 
but what is civil. He is one that uses all companies, drinks 
all healths, and is reasonable cool in all religions. He con- 
siders who are friends to the company, and speaks well 
where he is sure to hear of it again. He can listen to a fool- 
ish discourse with an applausive attention, and conceal his 
laughter at nonsense. Silly men much honour and esteem 
him, because by his fair reasoning with them as with men of 
understanding he puts them into an erroneous opinion of 
themselves, and makes them forwarder hereafter to their own 
discovery. He is one rather well thought on than beloved, 
and that love he has is more of whole companies together 
than any one in particular. Men gratify him notwithstand- 
ing with a good report; and, whatever he has besides, 
yet, having no enemies, he is sure to be an honest fellow." 

Thus far this discerning prelate,* who, after all, it is pro- 
bable, was himself a little mawkish ; at least if bishopricks 

* John Earle, afterwards Bishop of Worcester and Salisbury, in his 
" Microcosinoo raphia; or, a Peece of the World discovered in Essayes 
and Characters, 1628," which was re-edited by the late Rev. Dr. 
Bliss, 1811, 8vo. The character occurs at p. 84, and is entitled "A 
plausible Man." 



BISHOP HUED. 



were to be got then, as some say they are now, by a dex- 
terous application of this quality. If you or the doctor 
call for instances, besides the worthies mentioned last night, 
I refer you to the master of every college, or, excepting the 
doctor himself, and perhaps one or two more, the whole 
vestry of St. Mary's. You will take notice that I name 
no names; and so far I may be thought to come myself 
within the description of an ho?iest fellow. But in every 
other respect I disclaim the imputation, as being de tout 
mon cceur your sincere friend and servant, E. H. 

In the year 1755 an opportunity was given to 
Mr. Hurd of signalizing his attachment to Mr. 
Warburton, of which he availed himself too much 
in the style of his friend and patron. Warbur- 
ton, in the second book of his Divine Legation 
of Moses, had broached the opinion that the 
descent of iEneas into Hades, in the sixth book 
of Virgil's iEneid, was an allegory representing 
the ceremony of initiation into the Eleusinian 
mysteries. Prom this opinion Dr. Jortin had 
ventured in his Sixth Dissertation to express par- 
tial dissent, in respectful terms indeed, but, as 
was thought by Hurd, with that degree of faint 
praise which implies indirect condemnation. 
This gave occasion to a pamphlet from Hurd,* 
entitled, " The Delicacy of Friendship, a seventh 
Dissertation, addressed to the Author of the 
sixth." In this piece he exposes in the most 

* To this attack Jortin made no direct reply ; but a passage in one 
of his Sermons (vol. iv. p. 238) appears to bear indirect but forcible 
allusion to it, 



54 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



unsparing manner what he deemed an insidious 
attack upon the theory of his friend. It is indeed 
a master-piece of keen and delicate irony, but no 
candid judge can do otherwise than regret that 
so severe an attack should have been made on 
a man of Jortin's talent and character on such 
slight provocation. And every friend to Hurd's 
memory must cordially agree with the sentiments 
expressed in the candid and manly letter on this 
subject of a mutual friend of both Hurd and 
Warburton, the able, but eccentric and most 
unfortunate, Dr. John Browne. * 

That the dissatisfaction expressed in this letter 
was shared by another distinguished friend of 
both parties, the amiable and accomplished, but 
likewise unfortunate, Charles Yorke, appears from 
the following extract from an unpublished letter 
of his to Warburton, dated March, 1756. In 
this judicious and candid address one knows not 
which to admire most, the warmth of friendship, 
or the dexterity in managing the foible of a testy 
friend, which it exhibits. 

Tlie friendship of all you say and write to me and of me, 
upon all occasions I feel, and will ever return with equal 
warmth and cordiality. . . . You know that in London I 
am no general or hackney talker de omni scibili in all compa- 
nies, or even to every acquaintance whom I respect. Having 

* Author of "Essays on the Characteristics," &c. The letter in ques- 
tion is cited by Browne himself in his Letter to Bishop Lowth 1766; 
and republished by Parr in his " Tracts by Warburton, &c." p. 200. 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



55 



said so much on the particular fact, allow me to add, that 
I have ever done justice, both in words and opinion, to the 
merit and the friendship, both of the Dissertation and of the 
writer. I think the first excellent in its kind, and I think 
the learning and parts of the latter to be equalled only by 
his candour and virtue. It is a strong thing which you 
say, and with complaisance call a misfortune, that your 
defences in print, whether by yourself or others, have never 
been greatly to my satisfaction. It is kind and just of you 
to speak of a difference in taste as the cause of our difference 
in judgment; but still it is an expression too strong. We 
are agreed in the thing always, in the manner, or rather 
as to some strokes mixed with the manner, not always. 
Perhaps it is that well-accorded strife (as Pope calls it) 
which has made the harmony of our friendship. And yet 
I must say that nobody has maintained with more freedom 
or with more heat your right to vindicate yourself against 
some persons, even with asperity. Your own pieces have 
pleased and satisfied me (which is a declaration not new to 
you), and I think Mr. Towne's* incomparable. After all, if 
my judgment at any time misleads me, I am conscious it 
must be owing to its own original and native weakness; 
for, in matters which concern your interest or honour, my 
affection for you makes it incapable of being perverted or 
receiving a false bias. 

Mr. Hurd's connection as tutor with Sir Edward 
Littleton had ripened into a permanent friendship. 
Of this the following letters, continued at inter- 
vals up to the time of the Bishop's death, are a 
sufficient and pleasing evidence. As little is 
known of Sir Edward beyond the sphere of his 

* John Towne, Archdeacon of Stowe, a zealous defender of Bishop 
Warburton. See his " Argument of the Divine Legation fairly 
stated, 1751." 



56 



LIFE AND 



CORRESPONDENCE OP 



neighbourhood and personal connections, a short 
biographical account of him may form a proper 
•introduction to Mr. Hurd's letters. 

• 

' Sir Edward Littleton * was born in the year 
1727. In his fifteenth year he inherited from 
his uncle, the third baronet, the family estates 
in Staffordshire, which had been acquired by 
marriage by a descendant of Richard, second son 
of Judge Littleton, author of the " Tenures." 
The education of a youth representing such a 
lineage and such a property was justly considered 
by his guardians a matter of great importance. 
He was, therefore, on his entrance at Emmanuel 
College, at an early age, placed under the tuition 
of Bishop (then Mr.) Hurd. The seeds of this 
early education were not thrown away, and were 
apparent in Sir Edward's tastes and associations 
through life. He embraced, however, the habits 
of a country gentleman, and devoted himself till 
the time of his death to the care of his property, 
and to county duties and pursuits. He culti- 
vated assiduously through life a friendship with 
the Bishop and his friends, a feeling cordially 
reciprocated by them all, but especially by the 
Bishop, whose last letter to him is very affecting. 

* Bishop Warburton, in a letter to Mr. Hurd, dated, Prior Park, 
1754, speaks thus of Sir Edward Littleton : " On Monday last Sir 
Edward Littleton was so good as to come and stay two days with me. 
He is a very amiable young gentleman. He has very good sense, and 
appears to have strong impressions of virtue and honour. The latter 
endowments were no other than I expected from a pupil of yours. 
He has a perfect sense of his obligations to you." (Letters, &c. lxiii.) 



BISHOP HUKD. 



57 



The Bishop dedicated to his pupil his edition of 
the Ars Poetica of Horace in terms highly 
honourable to the character of Sir Edward. In 
1745 Sir Edward raised a company in the regi- 
ment of Lord Gower, in which he was a captain. 
He married Frances, daughter of Christopher 
Horton of Catton in Derb)' shire, Esq., who died 
without issue, full forty years before her husband, 
who continued unmarried till his death. In 
1793, a time of great political excitement, the 
Yiscount Lewisham, who then represented the 
county of Stafford, having rendered himself un- 
popular, retired from its representation, and Sir 
Edward was invited by the almost unanimous 
call of the freeholders to represent them. This 
honour he earnestly endeavoured to decline, as 
he was then 64 years of age ; but he was com- 
pelled to yield, and retained his seat during the 
remainder of his life, seldom, however, attending 
Parliament, except on urgent occasions. He 
died in 1812, aged 85.* 

4 

REV. MR. HURD TO SIR EDWARD LITTLETON. 

Cambridge, 1st Dec. 1755. 
My dear Friend, — I have your kind letter. By one 
from Mr. Fenton last night I learn that my poor father 
is at last released from his great misery. I and all his 
family have reason to be thankful for his deliverance. 

* For this account of his venerable ancestor I am indebted to the 
Right Honourable Lord Hatherton. 



58 LIPE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



And yet I feel the loss very tenderly. It is not to be ex- 
pressed how excellent a man he was, — how benevolent and 
generous in his temper, and how kind, even to excess, to 
his family. Such instances of goodness, though very rare, 
cost people in higher life and easier fortunes very little. 
But his virtues were at the expense of his own ease and 
other satisfactions. I mention these things to you, who 
have a heart, and will feel with me and for me. The 
generality of mankind know nothing of these matters. My 
tears overflow while I write this. God give you ease and 
content in this life, — more is not to be expected, even in your 
fortune, — and reward your virtues in another. Your good 
and generous lady, I know, will sympathise with me. 
Eemember me to her with all respect and kindness. My 
dearest friend, your ever affectionate and faithful servant, 

R. Hurd. 

Cambridge, 13 Dec. 1755. 
Dear Sir Edward, — -Let me thank you for the satisfac- 
tion I received from your very affectionate letter of the 6th. 
The religious considerations you mention are those which 
have the greatest weight with me. I know they are the 
only ones that bring us any relief in these distresses of 
humanity. The dear person I lament was supported by 
them in all his afflictions; and I should be much ashamed 
not to feel their whole force, when I consider who it is that 
recommends them to me. So just a turn of thinking, at 
your years, and in your fortune, is not very common in 
our days. But you have the virtue to begin where others 
end, in a true sense of piety and of the emptiness of earthly 
things. 

Assure yourself of my constant affection. Your kind- 
ness and your virtues equally bind me to be, in a particular 
manner, dearest Sir, your most obliged and entire friend 
and servant, R. Hurd. 



BISHOP HXRD. 



59 



P.S. It was exceeding good in Ladv Littleton to favour 
me with so kind a letter, which I have acknowledged in a 
few lines. 

The foHowing extract is from a letter of Bishop 
Warburton to Sir Edward Littleton, dated May 
8, 1756. 

Our excellent friend Mr. Hurd has been of late in an ill 
state of health, and in worse spirits. He has consulted his 
physician, and I prevailed with him to consult mine. 
They have concurred to advise sea-bathing, to which he in- 
tends this summer to give a very fair trial. I am greatlv 
anxious for his welfare, on the selfish consideration of private 
friendship; for his candid manners, his generosity of mind, 
and his warmth of heart make him the most amiable of 
men. But I am much more anxious for the sake of the 
public, he being born with abilities to adorn letters, and to 
support religion in a miserable time, when we are running 
headlong into barbarism and impiety. 

MR. HURD TO SIR EDWARD LITTLETON. 

Cambridge, 20th Oct. 1756. 
Dear Sir Edward, — I beg your pardon for neglecting 
so long to acknowledge your two kind letters to me at 
Brighthelmstone ; but I had a mind to wait the issue of an 
affair which I knew would give you pleasure, as it very 
much concerned me. One of oik College livings became 
vacant just before I left Sussex. Mr. Hubbard* has been 
ever since deliberating about it. He has just now refused 
it, and I shall this day declare to the Society my intention 
of taking it. The living I speak of lies in Leicestershire, 
within three or four measured miles of Leicester. The 

* Henry Hubbard, B.D., Fellow and Tutor of Emmanuel. 



60 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



name is Thurcaston, and the extended value somewhat 
about 230/. a year. Mr. Hubbard and I went to see it last 
week. The situation is pleasant enough for the country, 
which you know is no paradise. The house good enough 
for a bishop, and in good repair, and the gardens, which 
to a bookish man you know is a matter of consequence, 
quite excellent. But what above all recommends this 
rectory to me is, that it lies within a day's ride or 
so from my dear Sir Edward. I have calculated the dis- 
tance. It would be very possible in a long summer's day to 
dine at Catton and lie at Teddeseley. But, though the pros- 
pect of this delights me, I shall not go immediately to reside 
at Thurcaston. It will be near a twelvemonth before my 
Fellowship is vacant. And then I may have some concerns 
that may keep me here for some time. But I shall be 
backwards and forwards at certain seasons, which will give 
me the opportunity . either of meeting you, or of waiting 
upon you in Staffordshire. In short I am very happy in 
the thoughts of being brought so near you, and I know 
your and Lady Littleton's kindness to me so well that it 
will not, I flatter myself, be a matter of indifference to 
either of you. 

Indeed, your concern for the ease and happiness of your 
friend is very extraordinary. I understood your delicate 
hint to me at Brighthelmstone. But your generosity had 
taken care that I should have no more difficulty in leaving 
that place than in getting to it. My dear friend, believe 
me very sensible of all your favours, of those you intend, as 
well as those you do me. Give my most respectful services 
to your good lady. Let me hear that she continues in 
perfect health, that is, that you are both as happy as I wish 
you. 

Dear Sir, your most faithful and obliged humble servant, 

R. Hued. 



BISHOP HTTRD. 



61 



The next letter lias no date, but was probably 
written shortly after Mr. Hurd's presentation to 
Thnrcaston. 

REV. R. HURD TO REV. W. WARBURTOX. 

My truest and most excellent Friend, — 

I am quite confounded with this fresh instance of your 
goodness to me, so little usual in any, and so much above 
example in these times. But I should have reason to be 
much more confounded if I did not return your generosity 
with the utmost frankness. I therefore embrace your kind 
favour with the utmost pleasure, and at the same time 
think it but fitting that you should know the full value of 

it The profits of my living, (Thurcaston,) with a 

little good husbandry, will make me quite easy. I, who 
was born to no hopes, bred in the school of parsimony, have 
no large necessities, and have been trained to philosophy, 
ought to be ashamed if so decent a provision did not satisfy 

me You see, my dear friend, I have poured out 

my whole heart to } r ou. Your uncommon generosity re- 
quired no less. And I do it the rather to relieve you from 
that anxiety you express for the interests of one you have 
taken into your bosom. 

I am, with all my heart and affections, dearest Sir, your 
most obliged and, if there be any such thing in the world 
as gratitude, your most devoted friend and servant, R. H. 

Among Mr. Hurd's Cambridge friends Mr. 
Mason has been already named. A similarity of 
taste and feeling had formed a close bond of 
union between them, although their characters 
were far from similar ; Mr. Mason having much 
more of the fire and energy of the poetic cha- 
racter than his friend. On occasion, however, 



62 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



of Mr. Mason's accepting an appointment which 
had an important influence on his future fortunes, 
his withdrawal from the studious scenes of their 
early friendship was thus elegantly and feelingly 
touched by Mr. Hurd : 

A SONNET 

ADDRESSED TO Mr. MASON ON HIS LEAVING COLLEGE, AND GOING 
INTO THE FAMILY OF LORD HoLDERNESSE. 

To Mr. Mason. 

Was it for this insidious Friendship strove 
To clasp our bosoms in its silken snare, 
For this, thy virtues bloom'd so wondrous fair, 
And Fame for thee th' unfading chaplet wove ? 
Say will yon linnet from her spray remove, 
Where sportive she, and free from every care 
Warbles at will her softly soothing air, 
And for the glittering cage desert the grove ? 
Then may'st thou, sweetest of the tuneful quire, 
Thy gentle muse, thy loved and loving friend, 
The golden competence, the vacant hour, 
Celestial blessings, barter for the hire 

Of witlings base, and thy free soul descend 
To toil for unbless'd gold, and flatter power. 

R. H. 3 Jan. 1756. 

Afterwards altered into the following, corrected 
by Mr. Mason himself. 

A gentle linnet, debonnaire and gay, 

Whilom had roved the wood in careless vein, 
Perch'd where it pleased, and with its honied strain 

Had waked the morn, and closed the eye of day. 

A fowler heard, and o'er her custom'd spray 
Inwove of limed twigs the tangling train, 
And with her favourite food bestrew'd the plain : 

The wiry cage unseen at distance lay. 



BISHOP HUM). 



63 



Blythe and unweeting, to the charmed tree 
The songster conies, and claps his little wing, 
Then downward bends to peck the golden fare. 
Will no kind hand the struggling captive free ? 
He yields to fate. He droops : forgets to sing, 
And greets his lord with no sweet-warbled air ! 

Between the year 1755 and 1757 were pub- 
lished those elegant and refined dissertations, re- 
spectively, 1. On the idea of Universal Poetry; 
2. On the Province of Dramatic Poetry ; 3. Ou 
Poetical Imitation ; and 4. On the Marks of Imi- 
tation; which must ever place Mr. Hard among the 
most acute, sagacious, and tasteful of critics. Of 
the second Dissertation Mr. Gibbon says ; " Mr. 
Hurd's discourse upon the several provinces of 
the Drama is a truly critical performance ; I may 
even say, a truly philosophical one." (Miscel- 
laneous "Works, vol. iv. p. 152.) In the third, 
Mr. Green points out the following passage, which 
he deservedly calls " wonderfully tine, and highly 
wrought up." (Diary of a Lover of Literature, 
p. 218.) 

One may compare the subtle operations of these (the 
moral and economical) sentiments on the Iranian form to 
the gentle breathing of the ah on the face of nature. Its 
soft aspirations may be perceived; its nimble and delicate 
spirit may diffuse itself through woods and fields, and its 
pervading influence cherish and invigorate all animal or 
vegetative being. Yet no external signs evidence its effects 
to sense. It acts invisibly, and therefore no power of imi- 
tation can give it form and colouring. Its impulses must 



64 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



at least have a certain degree of strength ; it must wave the 
grass, incline trees, and scatter leaves, before the painter can 
lay hold of it, and draw it into description. Just so it is 
with our calmer sentiments. They seldom stir or disorder 
the human frame. They spring up casually, and as circum- 
stances concur, within us; but, as it were, sink and die away 
again like passing gales, without leaving any impress or 
mark of violence behind them. (Works, vol. ii. p. 168-9.) 

The opening and close also of the fourth, ad- 
dressed to his friend Mason, afford a favourable 
specimen not only of his style, but also of his 
sentiments and feeling. 

My younger years, indeed, have been spent in turning- 
over those authors which young men are most fond of ; and 
among these I will not disown that the poets of ancient 
and modern fame have had their full share in my affection. 
But you, who love me so well, would not wish me to pass 
more of my life in these flowery regions; which though 
you may yet wander in without offence, and the rather as 
you wander in them with so pure a mind and to so moral a 
purpose, there seems no decent pretence for me to loiter in 
them any longer. Yet, in saying this, I would not be 
thought to assume that severe character, which, though 
sometimes the garb of reason, is oftcner, I believe, the mark 
of dulness, or of something worse. No, I am too sensible 
to the charms, nay to the uses, of your profession, to affect 
a contempt for it. The great Roman said well, Ucbc studia 
adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant. We make a full 
meal of them in our youth : and no philosophy requires so 
perfect a mortification as that we should wholly abstain 
from them in our riper years. But should we invert the 
observation, and take this light food not as the refreshment 



BISHOP HTTRD. 



65 



only, but as the proper nourishment of age ; such a name as 
Cicero's, I am afraid, would be wanting, and not easily found, 
to justify the practice. Let us own, then, on a greater au- 
thority than his, " that every thing is beautiful in its season." 
The spring hath its buds and blossoms; but, as the year 
runs on, you are not displeased, perhaps, to see them fall 
off; and would certainly be disappointed not to find them, 
in due time, succeeded by those melloiv hangings the poet 
somewhere speaks of. I could allege still graver reasons ; but 
I would only say, in one word, that your friend has had his 
share in these amusements. I may recollect with pleasure, 
but must never live over again, 

Pieriosque dies, et amantes carmina somnos. 

I might indulge in other reflections, and detain you still 
further with examples taken from his works. But we have 
lam, as the poet speaks, on these primrose beds too long. 
It is time that you now rise to your own nobler inventions ; 
and that I return myself to those less pleasing perhaps, but 
more useful, studies from which your friendly solicitations 
have called me. Such as these amusements are, however, 
I cannot repent me of them, since they have been innocent 
at least, and even ingenuous; and, what I am fondest to 
recollect, have helped to enliven those many years of friend- 
ship we have passed together in this place. I see indeed 
with regret the approach of that time which threatens to 
take me both from it and you. But, however fortune may 
dispose of me, she cannot throw me to a distance to which 
your affection and good wishes at least will not follow me. 
And, for the rest, 

Be no unpleasing melancholy mine. 

The coming years of my life will not, I foresee, in many 
respects, be what the past have been to me. But, till they 

F 



66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



take me from myself, I must always bear about me the 
agreeable remembrance of our friendship. 

With particular reference to the Essay on 
Poetical Imitation above mentioned, it should be 
stated that the Bishop's judgment of literary merit 
differed from that now prevalent. We are in- 
clined to estimate it rather by the amount of 
energy exhibited in literary composition than by 
the perfection of the work produced by it. He 
took the contrary view. Prom him the facetum 
(finished elegance) of Virgil found more approval 
than the forcible simplicity of Homer. 

Another idol of the present day is originality. 
In opposition to this the Bishop's opinion was 
that originality is an inferior merit to the dex- 
terous use and application of thoughts already 
struck out. This opinion he has very ably and 
successfully maintained in his Essay ; confirming 
it by the example of Sir William Davenant's 
failure in his " Gondibert " from the affectation 
of originality. In his well-stored common-place 
book we see the extent to which he availed him- 
self of existing materials ; and by a comparison of 
this with his published works it appears with what 
skill and judgment these accumulated stores were 
made to assist his own invention, and were worked 
into new forms and combinations. 



SECTION III. 



Haying entered into residence on his new living, 
Mr. Hurd divided his time principally between 
the duties of his profession, and the cultivation 
of his taste for polite literature. His communi- 
cation with his neighbours seems to have been 
sparing, and he appears to have been chiefly 
indebted for social enjoyment to the occasional 
visits of his college friends, and correspondence 
with them when absent. Considering his literary 
and studious turn, and the general tone of country 
and clerical society a century ago, this is not to 
be wondered at. The only source besides his own 
letters from which we derive any particular 
account of his mode of life at this period is from 
the following reminiscences of Mr. Cradock, 
which it may be proper to preface by a few 
words of introduction. 

Joseph Cradock, M.A., E.S.A., of Gumley 
Hall in Leicestershire, was born in 1741-2. He 
was of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but did not 
graduate, his degree of M.A. having been con- 
ferred by royal mandate. He was a classical 
scholar, an antiquary, a wit, a dramatist, and no 
mean performer in private theatricals. His 
neighbour and friend, Erancis Stratford, Esq., 
Master in Chancery, adds, that he was "a good 

p 2 



68 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



neighbours a kind friend, a highly finished 
gentleman, and sufficiently learned to be the fit 
associate of those who were most learned, with 
this advantage over the most learned, that he 
was altogether free from pedantry, and all 
inclination to be overbearing in his conversation 
with others avowedly less learned than himself." 
These qualifications, with his pleasantry, and 
inexhaustible fund of anecdote, recommended him 
to the best society of his time, including Bishops 
Warburton and Hurd, and Dr. Johnson and his 
friends, particularly Garrick, whom he resembled 
both in person and talents. His Memoirs, from 
which the following extracts are taken, were pub- 
lished by Messrs. Nichols in 1826 and 1828. 

Many obligations were due from me to the Eev. Mr. 
Hurd, Rector of Thurcaston in Leicestershire, who much 
interested himself in my education; and, from the time he 
gave me an introduction to Emmanuel College, I was proud 
perhaps of speaking of him there, and he was not always 
averse, when at leisure in a lonely village, from hearing my 
accounts of his own university. 

At my vacations I paid him occasional visits, and recol- 
lect that, the first time I accompanied him on a Sunday to 
his parish church, he after the service asked me what was 
my opinion of the discourse. " You are to speak freely," 
said he. I told him that I thought it was good, but I did 
not consider it as his own, for it rather appeared to me that 
it was given from' a printed book. " You are right," replied 
he, " it was one of Bourdaloue's, and I had only the French 
volume before me, with many marks and alterations. This 
is a good practice to obtain the language, and I consider 
this sermon on the prospect of death as particularly suited 



BISHOP HUE.©. 



69 



to such an audience ; and let me recommend to you to make 
such experiments, for in a retired place it will become jour 
duty to read something instructive perhaps on a Sunday 
evening to your own family." 

When Mr. Hurd was deeply engaged he would often give 
me the key of his closet in the parlour, which contained 
letters and criticisms from TTarburton and others of the 
most learned of his acquaintance, and required that I should 
make remarks, and sometimes extracts from them. 

He once said to me, " I wish you had come sooner, for 
Mason has just left me. He got up very early this morning 
to plant those roses opposite, and otherwise decorate my 
grounds. He boasts that he knows exactly where every 
rose ought to be planted."' 

I walked over the lawn and shrubbery, and thought he had 
displayed much taste in the proper style of an English gar- 
den. A winding path conducted the visitor through rather an 
open grove, then crossed over the lawn opposite the house, 
passed through a much deeper grove, and came out full on 
the forest hills, in nearly the same point of view as they are 
seen from the last turnpike on the London road to Leicester. 
Such was " low Thurcaston's sequester'd bower ;" but I do 
not think he considered himself as placed there, " distant 
from Promotion's view." 

Hurd was a man of strict integrity, and very kind to 
those of whom he approved ; but he was distant and lofty, 
and not at all admired by those who did not estimate him in 
a literary capacity. Indeed he paid no attention to them ; 
for in one of his letters to Warburton he made use of a 
common phrase of his, " I am here perfectly quiet, for I 
have delightfully bad roads about me." 

In summer he would sometimes honour me by bringing 
a friend with him to pass a day at Gumley, when I merely 
came down to my old house to look after my workmen. 
Of course it was my wish to make everything as pleasant 



70 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



as possible, and indeed lie was inclined to be pleased with 
every tiling, for I followed bis own directions as nearly as 
was practicable. " My young friend, we sball not reacb 
you till after breakfast, and tben you will give us, as usual, 
only a nice leg of your mutton and some turnips, a roast 
fowl, and a plain pudding, or something only of that kind, 
as I do not eat anything but what is plain. I know you 
will expect me to drink the University of Cambridge 
in a bumper of your old hock. After tea we must have 
another walk, and return in the cool of the evening to 
Thurcaston. My young friend tells me he has adopted my 
tea rules from me. I like none so well as Twining's Hyson 
at seventeen shillings a pound ! by choice I never take any 
other, and indeed I never find it affect my nerves. It is 
always a treat to me to walk over your romantic territory; 
and I shall minutely examine all the books that you have 
lately purchased. I do not wish to meet the Eev. Dr. 
Parry :* he is a good Hebraist, but he is devoted to some 
dignitaries who are the avowed antagonists of Bishop War- 
burton. There is a lady from Harborough, Mrs. Allen, 
who, I find, frequently visits at your house; I should be 
happy to be introduced to her. She is daughter of the 
late Professor Sanderson." 

On examining my alterations, he observed, " This is a 
most interesting spot ; from hence, on a clear day, both Bos- 
worth and Naseby may be distinctly seen. My young friend, 
there must be either a building or pillar erected to com- 
memorate the great events that have taken place there ; and 
the next time I come I shall require one or two specimens 
of good inscriptions, which I shall very freely criticise, as 
usual." 

* The Rev. Richard Parry, D.D., a student of Christ Church, ap- 
pointed preacher at Market Harborough in 1754, and resident there 
until his death in 1780 : see an account of him and his works in 
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 436. 



BISHOP HTJED. 



71 



Bisliop Warburton once honoured Mr. Hurd by staying 
with him a week at Thurcaston;* and, though they were 
ever the best friends, yet no two could be more dissimilar 
in disposition. Hurd was cold, cautious, and grave; the 
Bishop warm, witty, and convivial; and, after he had been 
shut up for a day or two at Thurcaston he began to in- 
quire whether there were no neighbours. " None that 
might be perfectly agreeable to your lordship," was the 
reply. " What," says the Bishop, " are all the good houses 
that I see around me here utterly uninhabited? Let us 
take our horses and beat up some of their quarters. I have 
no doubt but several will be well inclined to be friendly 
and sociable." " I certainly cannot refuse attending on your 
lordship anywhere." Accordingly they waited upon five 
gentlemen whom I had the pleasure to know, and they all 
kindly accepted an invitation to take a family dinner at 
Thurcaston. When I heard of this at Leicester, I deter- 
mined to call on Mr. Hurd, who received me with great 
cordiality. " Why, Sir," said I, " there is nothing talked of 
but your gaiety ; it has even reached your friend Dr. Bick- 
ham at Loughborough." " I don't doubt it," replied he, 
" and if you will pass the day with me, I will treat you with 
the remains of the festival, and give you an account of all 
particulars. I can assure you I was at first alarmed as to 
the provision that could be made by my little household ; 
but all the company were disposed to be pleased. The 
Bishop was in the highest spirits ; and when the gentlemen 
took leave of me in the hall, they went so far as to declare 
that, " They thought they had never passed a much plea- 
santer day." " And, as you have been so successful, Sir," 
I ventured to add, " in this first effort, I have no doubt 
but the experiment will soon be repeated." Mr. Hurd was 
silent. 

At Thurcaston I think I had never met any one but 
* Bishop Warburton was more than once at Thurcaston. 



72 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Mr. Ball, the curate, who always seemed dissatisfied with 
his situation; he said, " I do not pretend to be very learned, 
but I have never been treated with such distance, or rather 
disdain." I assured him it was the manner of Mr. Hurd to 
others; that I was certain he had a favourable opinion of 
him; and I urged him not hastily to give up his situation, 
for that I was convinced that Mr. Hurd was intrinsically good. 
Mr. Ball would not have long followed my advice, but that 
his rector had been appointed preacher at Lincoln's Inn, 
and he availed himself of his absence to be more comfortable. 
Mr. Ball, however, was at last convinced of the truth of 
all my assertions; for as soon as ever his rector rose to be 
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, he presented the first 
living he had in his gift, without the least application, to 
his astonished curate, the unassuming Mr. Ball.* 

From the time I first knew Hurd at Thurcaston until I 
visited him as bishop in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, 
I do not recollect one discordant circumstance in his family. 
He was, of course, very careful about character, and he had 
very little intercourse with the world ; but the same persons 
remained, and I do not recollect any one of them as un- 
faithful, nor do I ever remember the least complaint. To be 
sure, he was himself strictly good, but he was always upon 
his guard. 

The year 1758 witnessed another of those over- 
zealous defences of his friend Warburton Avhich, 
however they may prove the strength of Mr. 

* In a letter to Dr. Balguy, dated April 1777, the Bishop, speaking 
of the decease of one of his clergy, says " This death vacates a living 
of about £70 a year for poor Ball. But the Archbishop of Canterbury 

has asked it for a friend of his and offers me in its stead for 

Ball two livings in the Isle of Thanet to the amount of £150 a year." 
Again, writing to Dr. Drake, in Oct. 1796, he says, " Mr. Ball has 
been here (at Hartlebury) this summer, and is reasonably well. I 
had a handsome letter from Lambeth, and believe our friend will be 
thought of if an opportunity should offer." 



BISHOP HUKD. 



73 



Surd's attachment, reflect the least credit on his 
courtesy and liberality as a controversialist. This 
was his " Letter to Dr. Thomas Leland, on his 
Dissertation on the Principles of Human Elo- 
quence ;" in which the expression of some dissent 
from Warburton's sentiments in his " Doctrine of 
Grace," is treated with a keenness and asperity 
totally out of place, considering the deservedly 
high character of Dr. Leland as a writer, and the 
openness of the question under discussion. 

The next year appeared "Remarks on Hume's 
Essay on the Natural History of Religion." This, 
being a joint production of Hurd and Warburton, 
appears in the collected Works of both. It was a 
piece of sufficient power to give some annoyance 
to Hume, who speaks of it in his short account of 
his own life in very acrimonious terms. 

In 1759 Mr. Hurd published his " Moral and 
Political Dialogues." Of these, the first is " On 
Sincerity in the Commerce of the World"; be- 
tween Dr. More and Mr. Waller : the second 
" On Retirement :" between Mr. Cowlev and Dr. 
Sprat : the third and fourth, " On the Age of 
Queen Elizabeth ; between Mr. Digby, Dr. Ar- 
buthnot, and Mr. Addison : the fifth and sixth 
" On the Constitution of the English Govern- 
ment ;" between Sir J. Maynard, Mr. Somers, 
and Bishop Burnet. These were followed in 
1763 by a seventh and eighth " On the Uses of 
Eoreign Travel ;" between Lord Shaftesbury and 
Mr. Locke. 



74 



LIEE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



Upon this work Mr. Hurd's credit as an author 
may be fairly staked. It was a species of writing 
peculiarly congenial to his turn of mind. He was 
a curious inquirer into the hidden causes of 
things, and a sagacious investigator of the secret 
springs of action. He was also an acute observer 
of character, which enabled him accurately to 
personate those whom he has introduced as inter- 
locutors : and his intimate acquaintance with the 
history of the speakers and of their times, aided 
by his complete mastery of the subjects discussed, 
qualified him to draw the justest conclusions, and 
to raise the most profitable reflections upon them. 
The exactness of his judgment has been shewn in 
his giving to his Dialogues only a semi-dramatic 
cast; so as concentrate attention not upon the 
characteristic traits of the speakers, which would 
have been beside his purpose, but upon the sub- 
jects under discussion, which was his main design. 

The reception these Dialogues met with in 
most quarters on their publication is curious and 
amusing. Mr. Hurd, writing to Dr. Warburton 
Aug. 26, 1759, says — 

For his (Mr. Yorke's) obliging compliments on the 
Dialogues, it was perhaps the more acceptable, as the gene- 
ral opinion of them, as far as I can collect it, is not favour- 
able. The Dialogues themselves, it is said, might pass but 
for the Notes and Preface. It is true, I have heard of no 
good reason why this playful part of my book should be so 
particularly disrelished. But there is no disputing about 
tastes; and if such be that of the public, I have that defe- 



BISHOP HURD. 



75 



rertce for its decisions which Fenelon had for the Pope's, and 
will myself retract, that is withdraw, them in another edition. 
What particularly pleases me in Mr. Yorke's compliments 
is, that he finds an extraordinary reach of thought in some 
passages. For it would have been mortifying indeed, if my 
pen had so far disguised the excellent hints you gave me 
for the two last Dialogues as not to be taken notice of by a 
capable and attentive reader. (Letters of a Late Eminent 
Prelate, &c. cxxxiv.) 

Dr. Warburton also, in a letter to Mr. Hurd, 
dated 12 Sept. the same year, writes thus : — 

I have just received a letter from Mr. Balguy, who, 
amongst other wonders of the taste, the sense, and the learn- 
ing of the times, says: " Our friend, it seems, has written an 
apology for Insincerity, and an invective against Retirement, 
and has seriously endeavoured to impose upon the world a 
palpable forgery; such things are said not only by great 
and grave men (which is no more than natural), but by 
ingenious men : and it is the universal cry, that the notes 
ought all to be expunged in the next edition. Which 
notes have not been understood by any man I have con- 
versed with, except Tom Warton of Oxford, a man who, 
with the behaviour of a clown, has a good share within him 
of sound sense and learning. I judge from his account 
that the Dialogues are well esteemed at Oxford." (Letters, 
&c. cxxxv.) 

When Mr. Hurd re-published his Dialogues in 
his own name, the original preface and notes, by 
which he so ingeniously veiled his incognito, 
were almost unavoidably expunged. They were 
indeed replaced by an admirable introductory 
essay " On the manner of writing Dialogue," in 



76 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



which the subject is thoroughly discussed with 
reference both to ancient and modern times ; but 
every reader of taste and intelligence must regret 
the loss of accompaniments which displayed so 
much genius and talent. It is to be lamented 
that these pieces should not have been inserted 
in the edition of the Bishop's collected works, 
published after his death. 

TO DR. BALGUY. 

Thurcaston, 6th Sept. 1759. 

The moment almost I had sent away my last letter, I 
received your favour of the 26th past, together with two 
sheets of observations on the subject of the last Dialogues. 
All you say on the difference betwixt the Imperial and 
Norman feuds is very curious, and will serve to correct 
many mistakes and to supply many deficiencies in my ac- 
count of the feudal constitution. Shall I be fairer than 
authors usually are, and confess a shameful truth to you? 
It is that, though in almost every thing I advance I have 
the authority of one or other of our best antiquaries and 
lawyers, yet my laziness would not suffer me to take the 
pains which you have done of tracing things to their original. 
The consequence is what you see. But if I ever give a 
complete edition of the Dialogues, I will reform the whole 
by your advice and assistance. And then I am sure, 
though I'may omit a great deal of what might be said, I 
shall say nothing but what will bear the strictest examina- 
tion. In the mean-time, accept my best thanks for this 
friendly trouble, and believe that you could not have given 
me a more welcome proof of your regard and affection. 

Your account of Giannoni* excites my curiosity very much, 
* His History of Naples ; a favourite book of Lord Mansfield. 



BISHOP HI" ED. 



77 



but where shall I be able to find the book in this obscure 
comer, and at so great a distance from libraries ? 

Mr. Warton and his Oxford friends are very indidgent to 
the Dialogues. The misfortune of Mr. Addison's character 
is this. He is known only to most readers, at least to most 
scholars, as a man of the gentlest manners, and as a polite 
writer. Under the last idea, we admire the elegance of his 
mind, the softness of his ridicule, the beauty of his moral 
sentiments, and the graces of his imagination. But he had 
another ancl very different character. He was a keen party 
man, and when heated in political controversy,, he coidd be 
as declamatory, and more vehement., than I have thought fit 
to represent him. In proof of this, I refer you to all his 
political writings, but more especially to his Whig- Examiner, 
written with a poignancy and severity which could hardly 
have been expected from Mr. Addison. This then was his 
political character, and as such I have drawn it, though 
with many softenings, in the Dialogues. Still I was aware 
of the prejudice that would arise against this representation 
from his general character. And to obviate that, I have 
purposely contrived to lead the reader into my design by 
what Dr. Arbuthnot is made to say of his vehement decla- 
mation over the ruins of Kenilworth, in the opening of the 
dialogue — that his (Mr. Addison's) indignation was not so 
much of the moral as political kind." This, I thought, was 
going as far as the decorum of such things would permit. 
But it is ill trusting to the sagacity of one's readers. And 
because these words were not printed in great church letters, 
nobody, I suppose, has taken notice of them. You will 
perceive, by what I have said, that I am of your mind with 
regard to the characteristic failing of the present age. The 
want of attention and understanding must be lamented in- 
deed, when there is not enough of either in the present race 
of critics to comprehend the obvious sense and purpose of 
these Dialogues. 



78 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



But let me call a better subject. You have observed tlie 
great and only defect of Lord Clarendon's new History.* 
Its being a mere apology for himself has hurt the composi- 
tion in so many respects, that I am willing to believe he 
intended it only, as he says, for the use and inspection of his 
own family. As a general history of his own administration, 
he could not but foresee that his minute account of some 
particular events must be very tedious to the reader. But 
the greatest misfortune of all is, that, writing in this view 
of an apology, he could make little or no use of his supreme 
talent at drawing characters — that talent in which he reigns 
without a rival, and in the display of which in his History 
of the Rebellion he so far surpasses every other writer. 
The persons of the court, except two or three whom he had 
made us acquainted with in his other history, were all his 
personal enemies; and to preserve a show of candour 
towards these, his inimitable pencil was restrained from ex- 
patiating, as it could have done, in the draught of their 
characters. Hence Arlington, Buckingham, Berkeley, and 
the rest of that crew of miscreants, escape. It did not fare 
thus with the enemies to the King and Monarchy. After 
all, what I regret most is, that his superstitious loyalty 
would not suffer him to give us a just picture of his in- 
famous master — a picture by which he might have revenged 
himself at once for all the injuries he had received from the 
politest, if you will, but the meanest and most contemptible, 
of all our princes. The Chancellor's reserve does not give 
me much offence, and was in part owing, I suppose, to the 
apologetical design of his memoirs. For his own temper it 
was high enough ; yet I can allow a great deal to his superior 
sense, and to the pride, as he finely calls it, of a good con- 
science. He was, besides, too arbitrary in his notions of 
government; and I cannot, you may be sure, forgive his 

* The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon, written by himself, first 
printed in 1759, in two volumes folio, by the University of Oxford. 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



79 



vindictive persecution of the poor coffee-houses. Yet 
withal he was one of the ablest and without doubt the most 
uncorrupt and virtuous minister we have ever seen (till lately) 
at the head of the British Councils 

TO THE SAME. 

Thurcaston, 2 Nov. 1759. 

.... As to Lord Clarendon, I must tell you, it would cost 
you many a pipe of tobacco, and as much wine as your 
archdeaconry is worth, to talk me out of my good opinion of 
that man and minister. I know you think his fine pen 
seduces me into an admiration of him. But it has a higher 
source. I believe no very ambitious man was ever half so 
honest. And it has never been my fortune to meet with an 
honest minister half so able. But, alas ! what could honesty 
and ability in conjunction do, in such times, and under such 
a master? To show you I require something more than 
ability in a writer, I must tell you that Davila, whom I 
amuse myself with at this time, is not half the favourite 
with me as Lord Clarendon. Not that he does not excel 
supremely in all the arts of historical composition ; but he 
does not feel for goodness like Lord Clarendon. And, with- 
out this seasoning, a common newspaper would be almost 
as agreeable reading to me as a page of Livy. This Davila 
is a very politician ; and we may truly say with the poet, 
I mean as interpreted by Lord Shaftesbury, rams communis 
sensus in ilia fortund. Hence he is perfectly enamoured of 
that she-monster, something between a fox and hyama, the 
Queen-mother : and hence he can relate the horrid Bartholo- 
mew massacre in a style that shews he regrets nothing in that 
affair but its want of success, or, at most, its defects in points 
of policy. I confess to you, I had much ado to bring my- 
self to read any more of this accomplished Historian. 

I do not wonder at your observation that you have gene- 



80 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



rally found yourself disappointed in the characters you have 
most admired in history. The reason is, none but very 
ambitious men figure there, and their circumstances must be 
very happy if very ambitious men can afford for any length 
of time to be very honest. Hence these characters are such 
rarities when they occur ; I mean the characters of ambitious 
men not infamously wicked. But it would be misanthropy 
indeed to take any measure of mankind from historic cha- 
racters. 

After all the demur against the Dialogues, they are now re- 
printing, and I do not submit to make a single alteration; 
not so much as to withdraw the preface. You see how very 
an author I am at bottom ! 

Having by just transition come to that grateful subject 
self, I must tell you I lead a life here which you will 
think pitiable, and most men wretched. I am so entirely 
alone, that for weeks together I see no human face but that 
of my own servants, and of my parishioners at church on 
Sundays. Yet with all this, one day slides after another so 
easily and insensibly, that I have no complaint to make of 
my situation. It is true, I should be happier far with you 
and others of my friends, but use, that great friend to 
human life, reconciles me to my lot, and keeps me from 
being positively unhappy. My chief amusement is in my 
books and the correspondence of my friends. When you 
write, (and perhaps, in this consideration, you will write to 
me very often,) let me know what books you meet with, 
new or old, that you think will give me entertainment. You 
know my taste pretty well, and I am so well acquainted 
with yours, that I am sure I shall be pleased with any thing 
you think fit to recommend to me. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



81 



Thurcastcu, Feb. 8, 1760. 

Browne* and I are all to pieces, on a 

suspicion lie has taken up. that part of my preface to the 
Dialogues was a disguised ridicule of him. I condescended 
to deny the charge, first by a common friend, and after- 
wards in a letter, which I writ to himself: all to no purpose. 
I believe; for, after an exchange of one or two letters, he 
appeared not satisfied, and so the affair rests. See the 
uncertainty, the caducity I should say, if I durst use that 
word, of modern friendships. Some fate snatches away; 
some the world takes from us ; some die of I know not what 
brain-sick suspicions; and some again, without any violent 
means, die of themselves. I could moralize all my paper 
away upon this chapter. But all the use I should make of 
these profound meditations would be, only to cleave the 
closer to those few friends that should haply be left 

Tliurcaston, May 1. 1761. 

I know not whether I should condole with you for the 
loss of your patron.f He is gathered to his fathers in a good 
old age, and has left you in possession of two of the best 
things in the world, a competency and liberty. God send you 
health to enjoy these, and then you have all the happiness 
a reasonable man ought to look for. 

I shall not dispute with you about the merits of Tristram! ; 
but I require you, upon pain of my displeasure, to retract 
your opinion of Rousseau. The Xew Heloise, I do not say as 

* The Rev. Dr. John Browne (see pp. 54, 9S.) To the mental 
obliquities of this ingenions but eccentric character, then* unhappy 
cause, and their fatal result, allusions are made in the Correspon- 
dence of Bishops Hurd and TTarburton passim, especially in a note by 
Bishop H. to Letter clxxxv. 

f Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester ; he died April 17, 
1761, aged 85. 

X Tristram Shandy, by Sterne, first published 1759. 

G 



82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



a romance, but as a moral composition, is incomparable. I 
do not care what you and Mr. Gray in the pride of criticism 
may pretend to the contrary. I appeal not to your taste, 
but to your moral sense. 

The Bishop of Gloucester and you are severe on my 

Lord elect of *. I think I could take upon me to 

make his apology against both of you. 

I would begin with observing that the Duke of New- 
castle himself could not possibly look for gratitude in his 
dependants. What virtue, pray, did he ever observe in 
them ? And does he think that so big a virtue as gratitude 
can have room to expatiate in a mind that was too narrow 
for the entertainment of any other. 

I would further ask, when the subjects he preferred had 
by accident any virtues, whether his Grace preferred them 
on that account, or from any generous esteem of their 
virtuous qualities? If not, gratitude, which respects the 
disposition of the heart, and not the outward act, has 
properly no root to spring from, and could not, therefore, 
be expected without absurdity. 

Next, I would say, that if haply any one had a mind 
naturally turned to the cultivation of gratitude, the air of a 
court, or, which is all one, of Newcastle House, was so 
baleful to the growth of this virtue, that it could never 
come to any size or maturity. Kousseau would say that it 
has seldom or never been heard of since the golden age, by 
which he would mean the savage life, and that it is in a 
manner inconsistent with the state of men in cultivated 
society. 

I would then urge in his behalf, that preferments, when 
conferred by the great on their dependants, are not so 
properly favours as debts ; that a course of years spent in 
servitude is the price they pay for such things; and that 

* Samuel Squire, D.D., Dean of Bristol, nominated Bishop of St. 
David s. (Before noticed in p. 6.) 



BISHOP HUM). 



83 



when promotion comes at last it comes in the way of 
recompense, and not of obligation. Would not any one 
laugh to hear of a slave's gratitude to his master? 

Further, one might plead that words have not the same 
meaning in all places, and on all occasions. Gratitude is, no 
doubt, expected from a great man's tool ; but by gratitude, 
when so applied, is only meant an attachment to him so 
long as he seems likely to serve oneself. When carried 
further, it means what in common language we express by 
the name of folly. 

Lastly, to make short work, and to omit abundance of 
reasons as good as these, I would plead the example of the 
great man himself. Where was his gratitude in under- 
mining and jostling out of his place his own patron, — I 
mean Sir Eobert of famous memory, as he and his brother 
did, as soon as there was a reasonable prospect of getting 
into it themselves? 

All these reasons taken together, and set in a good light, 
would, methinks, make a handsome apology for ingratitude; 
and when made might possibly be as serviceable to the rest 
of the duke's dependants in their turn as to Dr. S. 

The Palace of Gloucester, Vuly 26, 1761. 
.... The Bishop and I have traversed the finest parts 
of this county, some of them indeed extremely fine. 
Every tiling passed off well and smoothly in the Visitation, 
and, I have reason to think, with perfect satisfaction to the 
clergy 

But I know you expect one word about the Charge. It 
was an exhortation to the study of letters, more especially of 
divinity, very lively and entertaining in the manner, and 
full of admirable things. It will not be printed at present, 
but will appear hereafter, as an introduction to a small 
volume he promised to his clergy, under the name of 

g2 



84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



' ' Directions, &c. on the Study of Theology." You will guess 
that a work of this sort will, under the Bishop's manage- 
ment, be very curious, as well as useful: and, I believe, we 
shall not wait very long for it. 

Here is an excellent episcopal house, and elegantly 
furnished. What company the place affords we see; and 
when there is no company, we are still happier in our 
private amusements and conversation. In short, the time 
passes here so deliciously, that it is with regret almost I 
hear of shifting the scene even to Prior Park 

Thurcaston, Jan. 29, 1762. 

I know nothing of the intrigues of the late Bishop of 
London:* and now they are of no concern to any body. 
Your prediction of him was, I fancy, accomplished some- 
what sooner than you imagined. His successor you see is 
the Bishop of Carlisle,f to nobody's joy, that I know of, 
except Dr. Browne's; and he, I dare say, believes that I 
wish him no joy from it, in which however he is mistaken. 

I had the greatest pleasure, as you would have, in the 
news of Mason's preferments in the Church of York. I 
know nothing yet of the history of the Precentor ship. The 
Eesidentiary's place was owing to Lord Montague, for which 
I honour him. 

I think of Hume's History as you do. Pray send me 
your account of Plutarch's Miscellanies. I amuse myself 
among his works this winter. 

The Letters on Chivalry are in the press; but there is 
not a word in them for your reading. 

Mr. BickhamJ is married, and is coming to reside at 
Loughborough in the spring, very early. Without doubt, 

* Dr. Hayter. 

f Dr. Osbaldeston ; he died in 1764. 

I The Rev. James Bickham, before noticed in p. 48. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



85 



as you say, lie will be a good neighbour, but I am got into 
a way of living without any, which is much better. 

The Bishop of Gloucester is in town, and, I hope, in 
perfect health. At least he seems intent on some new 
things he is preparing for the press, and is in good spirits. 
The family were a little alarmed for him some time ago, 
but, I believe, without reason. Mr. Allen, too, is reasonably 
well. 

You do not say a word to me of Fingal. The following 
epigram is handed about town on Lord Lyttelton's admira- 
tion of it. 

Quoth my Lord, who so wise is, so thin, and so tall, 
What's the Iliad or iEneid, compared to Fingal ? 
The once honour'd classics no more he defends, 
But gives up old bards, as he gives up old friends ; 
Prefers new acquaintance in poetry and wit, 
Macpherson to Homer, Newcastle to Pitt. 

I heartily wish the continuance of your health, and the 
recovery, if it may be, of your good mother's 

Thurcaston, April 26, 1762. 

Dr. Barnard, of Eton, sent me the other day a 

new book by that Foster who wrote a simple thing on 
Elfrida.* This is much better. Considering the subject, he 
has acquitted himself very notably: and the subject itself 
does not misbecome an usher of a grammar school. If you 
have not seen it, it is called " An Essay on Accent and 
Quantity," &c. A Dr. G. (whom I suppose to be Dr. 
Gaily) and the University of Oxford, who it seems have re- 
nounced accents, are not unjustly, but cavalierly treated. 
If you happen to have read this learned treatise, you will be 
somewhat prepared for my Letters, which are on a subject as 
insignificant, with this disadvantage, that it is not set off by 
the same erudition. Foster's book is the fruit of what Pope 

* John Foster, M.A., born 1731, died 1773. 



86 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



calls Learning's luxury ; mine of its idleness, as you will see 
one of these days, when you receive a copy of it. Need I 
give a better reason for its not being to your taste ? 

Tell me about (to use a phrase of little Kalph Warburton 
when he wants to hear a story of a cock and a bull,) this 
new Grammar of Dr. Lowth.* They say it outsells Tristram 
Shandy. But, above all, let me have your directions about 
Plutarch's Miscellaneous Works, which I fancy will be more 
to my taste than this doctor's Elements. 

Mr. Hurd's reputation as a critic and an adept 
in polite literature was enhanced in 17 62 by the 
publication of his twelve " Letters on Chivalry 
and Romance." " In these letters/' Mr. Green 
well remarks, cc the origin of the spirit of chivalry, 
(the distinguishing spirit of modern times,) as it 
exhibits itself in the characteristics of generosity, 
gallantry, and religion, is satisfactorily traced to 
feudal institutions ; the heroic and gothic man- 
ners are ably compared, and the superiority of the 
latter, in a poetical view, successfully asserted." 

Of this elegant and judicious work, Mr. Charles 
Yorke (although he differed from Mr. Hurd in 
assigning the origin of chivalry to the Crusades,) 
expresses the following high opinion in an un- 
published letter to Bishop Warburton : " Mr. 
Hurd's piece on Chivalry is incomparably the 
justest and most ingenious defence of the great 
Italian poets which has appeared, and drawn 1 ex 
fontibus rerum.' The application of the whole 
to Spenser is inimitable — gives him his true 

* A short Introduction to English Grammar, first published in 1762. 



BISHOP HUM). 



87 



merit in his proper sphere — and illustrates every 
line of him more than all the quartos and octavos 
of all the editors and critics who have gone 
before." 

Bishop Warburton, writing to Dr. Balguy, in 
April 1762, says, " Mr. Hurd has received a long 
letter of two or three sheets from the Attorney- 
General on his Letters upon Chivalry." This 
letter probably contained Mr. Yorke's different 
idea of the origin of chivalry, and the argument 
by which it was sustained, as quoted by Mr. Hurd 
in Letter IV. This idea Mr. Yorke has sum- 
marily expressed in the following passage from 
his letter to Bishop Warburton above quoted. 
" You will see that my notion of chivalry arises 
out of the Holy Land ; and the spirit of the Cru- 
sades was the policy of the Western princes to 
prevent troubles at home. Out of the chivalry 
so born grew knight-errantry, that is, the spirit 
of personal adventure, and romantic honour and 
gallantry improved by the later refinements of 
gothic courts. The romancers jumbled the whole 
together in their long-winded tales ; and the 
modern'poets, Ariosto, Tasso, &c. took advantage 
of it to adorn their writings." 

The writer of the memoir of Bishop Hurd in 
the Ecclesiastical and University Register for 
1808, justly characterises these Letters as distin- 
guished by cc elegance of language, propriety of 
sentiment, felicity of illustration, and beauty of 
imagery." He adds, " Of all the works of Bishop 



88 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



Kurd, as they have been most admired in the 
present age, so do they stand the best chance of 
being known to every future one.' 9 

Whether from the caprice of literary taste, 
from the intervention of novelties, or from the 
sneers of sciolists, these Letters have suffered a 
temporary neglect ; but good sense and good 
writing will in time be sure to re-assert their 
claim to public attention ; and we cannot doubt 
that they are destined to experience a revival of 
credit and estimation. 

TO DR. BALGUY. 

Thurcaston, 1 July, 1762. 

I have your kind favour of the 5th past, and am so well sa- 
tisfied with your general approbation of the trifle I sent you, 
as to give you leave to make any objection you please to par- 
ticular parts. The first edition went off so quick, that Millar 
would needs print a second forthwith ; though I can hardly 
think the demand will continue for so mere an amusement. 

I sent a copy of the Letters to Mr. T. Warton. I certainly 
meant no incivility to him, and shall be sorry if he takes it 
in that light. I had spoke my opinion very plainly and 
truly of his Observations in the letter on Imitation. 

I obtained a sight of so much of the Discourses on 

the Spirit* as is printed off. Some sheets came hither to the 
Bishop. It will be a very fine and useful work. I am par- 
ticularly taken with the part that concerns Wesley, though 
the whole abounds with very curious things. If any thing 
can preserve the clergy in their senses, it must be such an 
admonition as this. As to those who are already run mad, 

* Warburton's Doctrine of Grace, &c. published 1762, 



BISHOP HTJED. 



89 



they are fit only for Monroe, to whose charitable care indeed 
Wesley and his coadjutors commit them .... 

P.S. — It will perhaps be an amusement to you to under- 
stand that my quondam friend Dr. Heberden likes the Letters 
on Chivalry better than any thing I have ever written. This 
intelligence I receive from Sir E. Littleton, who has been 
lately under his hands in town. 

Thurcaston, Dec. 3, 1762. 

.... I had a very obliging letter from Mr. T. Warton, in 
answer to one of mine, which carried my thanks for his 
agreeable present of the Observations. I am exceedingly 
pleased with this second edition of his work, and still more 
with his project of a History of English Poetry. On both 
these accounts he is very much in the good graces of the 
Bishop of Gloucester. What he said to me on the subject of 
my Letters shews him to be a very candid and amiable man. 
He only exceeds a little in his favourable opinion of their 
author. By the bye, these Letters seem to have had the fate 
which trifles in our time usually have, — I mean, to have had 
the reception which is due to better things. Amongst other 
compliments I have received one from the Attorney- General* 
in a very polite strain, and which should speak him something 
in earnest, for his letter consists of two or three sheets. 

You are too old, and too much of a philosopher, to read 
Ariosto with enthusiasm. The Italian poets address them- 
selves to a young imagination, and you and I are, alas! 
turned of forty. Not but Tasso, as you observe, can upon 
occasion touch the affections ; and even this weakness we 
shall outlive one of these days. But if you love the pathetic 
read Metastasio, where you will find the tenderness, not to 
say the morality and good sense, of Euripides. He is won- 
derful in what dramatic people call situations. 

* The Hon. Charles Yorke. 



90 LIFE AND COKUESPONDENCE OF 



Thurcaston, Oct. 20th, 1763. 
.... I have just now put into the press a new Dialogue, 
on a subject not unpopular, I mean The practice of Foreign 
Travel considered as a part of an English gentleman's educa- 
tion. It is in two divisions, or what the ancients would call 
two books. In the former, Lord Shaftesbury is the chief 
speaker, and is the advocate for travelling. In the latter, 
Mr. Locke disputes against it. You will have no objection 
to the personam dramatis: the difficulty, you know, is to 
sustain them. I cannot tell whether I am likely to become a 
fashionable writer, but I deserve to be so ; for my writings 
are of the kind you well characterize in one of your letters 
to me, which neither demand nor presuppose any degree of 
attention. What pleases me best, is that I find means to 
apologize for the universities, and in a manner which I think 
you will not dislike. My intention is to do a little good, if 
it may be, in the reproof of a very absurd practise; but the 
reader I dare say will look for nothing but a little amuse- 
ment. The time of publication is uncertain ; but you 
shall have a copy of these Dialogues as soon as they are 
printed off. 

This important matter being now out of my hands, I 
amuse myself with revising the old Dialogues, especially 
those on the Constitution, and for this purpose I have now 
before me a long letter of yours written to me soon after 
the first edition, together with a sheetful or two of remarks 
on the feudal part of the fifth Dialogue. I have considered 
these remarks carefully : and if my purpose were to compose 
a treatise in form on that subject, they would be of great 
service to me. As it is, their chief use will be to enable me 
to correct some mistakes, and to qualify and guard some 
general principles and assertions. The subject is extremely 
nice and difficult; but I took care, when I drew up this part, 
to build on the best authorities, I mean principally Selden 



BISHOP HTTRD. 



91 



and Spelman. I have not these books, or indeed any of the 
sort, now "by me ; but I think I could dispute (and that is a 
bold word) some things you object to me, out of their au- 
thority. My purpose requires me to give a true indeed, so 
far as it goes, but only a general account of the Xorman 
feuds, as planted in this country. And, if I possessed all 
the knowledge of all the feudists, it would not be proper for 
me to descend into all the specialities of this subject. I will 
only add, that I see no cause to alter anything from what 
Hume has said in the last volumes, which are by far the best, 
of Iris History. I am sure he knew little of the subject when 
he wrote the others ; and I am also sure the subject is of some 
importance ; though he affects to think otherwise. 

The Bishop of Gloucester I suppose will be in town 
against the meeting of Parliament. The rage of parties 
seems to promise much business in that quarter. When 
the old barons contended for Magna Charta, with swords 
in then hands, the scene was interesting. When modern 
peers contend for I know not what, with their pockets full of 
angry pamphlets and Xorth Britons, I take my philosophic 
chair and look down with contempt on the great and little 
vulgar. 

TO SIE E. LITTLETON". 

Prior Park, July 6, 1764. 

Dear Sir, — I had your favour of the 27th June, trans- 
mitted to me from Gloucester, this day, and am extremely 
glad to find that you have at last met with a physician who 
seems to understand Lady Littleton's case. This, I hope, 
will be a great step towards a perfect cure. 

You have heard before this of the melancholy event 
which occasioned the Bishop's and my removal hither.* 



* The death of Ralph Allen, Esq. of Prior Park, on 29th June. 



92 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



The distress of the whole family is what you will conceive, 
and will probably make my stay here somewhat longer than 
I had designed : in which case I shall be obliged to return 
directly into Leicestershire, without giving myself the 
pleasure I had proposed of calling upon you at Teddesley. 

Mr. Allen seems to have disposed of his fortune very 
equitably. He has left many large legacies to his family 
and friends, and the bulk of his estate to Mrs. Allen for her 
life, and afterwards to Mrs. Warburton and her son, with 
entails, in case of failure, to his other nephews and nieces, 
with a preference among these to Captain Tucker, and then 
to Miss Allen. 

I performed the painful office yesterday of burying him 
at Claverton. His funeral, by his express desire, was as 
private as possible. 

My best wishes and respects attend Lady Littleton, and 
I am ever, dear Sir, most faithfully, your affectionate humble 
servant, R. Hukd. 



TO DR. BALGUY. 

Prior Park, July 10th, 1764. 

The consternation and distress of the family for Mr, 

Allen's death were what you would imagine. Only poor 
Mrs. Allen supported herself under the stroke somewhat 
better than was to be expected; and this circumstance was 
some relief to everybody else. Nothing but time can 
reconcile them to their loss. It is true that among other 
large legacies he left 1000Z. to Mr. Pitt. He even desired 
upon his death-bed Mr. Pitt might be assured he died in 
perfect good will towards him. 

The bulk of his estate is left to Mrs. Allen for life; and 
afterwards to Mrs. Warburton and her son; and, in case of 
failure in that line, by several entails, to his other nephews 



BISHOP HUM). 



93 



and nieces, with a preference first to Captain Tucker, and 
then to Miss Allen. I should have told you that the 
Hampton Estate, about 6001. a year, goes at Mrs. Allen's 
death to Mr. Philip Allen senior and his family. 

I think I shall stay here about a fortnight longer, and 
then return directly into Leicestershire. I have scarcely ever 
passed so distressful a fortnight as the last. The recollection 
of it is still so painful to me, that it is with reluctance I 
write these few lines to you. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 29, 1764. 

.... I amuse myself at present with reading the new 
History of France by Velly and his continuator. It is 
agreeably written, though the writers frequently show them- 
selves to be very Frenchmen. I confess this does not dis- 
please me. I am even edified by their zeal to confute the 
apostate Eapin. Their patriotism in this instance, if it be 
a prejudice, is, I think, an amiable one. They frequently 
quote Essais Historiques with much applause. 

Pray what is this book, and by whom written? 

The Preachership of Lincoln's Inn is likely to be vacant 
soon, and the offer of it is likely enough to be made to me; 
but I still persist in my resolution to decline it. I never 
had vigour of mind enough to conceive anything of ambi- 
tion, and I grow every day less apt for so sublime contem- 
plations. Quiet and leisure are the idols I pay court to, and 
in this courtship I am likely to have no rivals. 

Prior Park, Feb. 6, 1765. 
I rejoice with you very sincerely (and desire you will let 
our friend know it) on Dr. Powell's election to the Master- 
ship of St. John's.* Merit is so rarely found in its own 

* William Samuel Powell, D.D., of whom see along memoir in the 
first volume of Nichols's Literary Anecdotes. 



94 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



place, that I confess I did not much, expect this event, 
though you had given me some assurance of it. I hope the 
state of the University is better than you represent it. If 
not, I know of nothing so likely to retrieve its credit as 
two or three such elections as this. I should indeed have 
thought the thing done, if the Margaret Professorship # had 
been as well disposed of as the Mastership. ........... 

I can guess how melancholy your attendance on your 
good mother must be, from what I see of Mrs. Warburton on 
poor Mrs. Allen. Yet a sense of duty supports her, as it 
does you. . * 

I had reasons for wishing to keep the Letter to L.f a 
secret; but, as the Bishop detected me, and you suspect me 
of it, I will not dissemble to you that I wrote it out of pure 
indignation at a coxcomb, though I am sensible the wiser 
way had been to follow Mr. Pope's advice, 

And charitably let the dull be vain. 

He has announced an answer, which I shall probably never 
read. 

The new edition of the Dialogues is out. I have a pre- 
sent for you, and only wait to know when and whither you 
would have it sent. I shall scarcely turn author again in 
haste, notwithstanding your edifying story of the Winchester 
fiddler. All here are much yours. Let me hear of you 
before I leave this place L» 

* This was given to Zachariah Brooke, D.D. of the same college. 

\ " A Letter to the Rev. Thomas Leland, in which his late Disser- 
tation on the Principles of Human Eloquence is criticised, and the 
Bishop of Gloucester's idea of the nature and character of an inspired 
language, as delivered in his lordship's Doctrine of Grace, is vindi- 
cated from all the objections of the learned author of the Dissertation." 
See above, p. 72, where, by a mistake of the Editor, the publication 
of this Letter is referred to the year 1758. 



BISHOP HURD. 



95 



Thurcaston, July 13, 1765. 

In a letter I received lately from Sir Edward 

Littleton, lie says his lady is not well since her return into 
the country, and that he now almost despairs of her being 
so beyond the time she may continue at Bath or elsewhere. 
When I contemplate this faculty the ladies have got of being 
well everywhere but at home, and that such otherwise 
excellent women as Mrs. "Wright, &c. are of the number, 
I shudder at the thoughts of matrimony, and half acquit 
this libertine age for the disgust it has conceived of it. 

I must tell you after all, but by way of secret, that I 
am likely to go to Lincoln's Inn. I had peremptorily 
refused Mr. Yorke * three or four times, but his kindness 
to me was so obstinate that he would take no denial. This 
occasioned me at last to explain the true motives of my 
conduct to him, such as you may remember I mentioned 
to you here. The effect was that, besides writing to me, 
he sent my letter, with an elaborate one of his own with it, to 
the Bishop, who, of course you see, would join Mr. Yorke in 
removing my scruples. In short, I followed their advice, 
and suppose I shall be nominated the first of Michaelmas 
term, which is the day appointed for the election. Nothing 
gives me much pleasure in this affair but the uncommon 

kindness and generosity of my friends I agree 

with you as to the Castle of Otranto ;t but the sort of com- 
position, even according to his own idea of it, is an absurd 
one. 'Tis true he explains that idea in his preface most 
miserably. 

Our men of taste seem to be in the condition of their 
famous predecessor, who bade high for a new pleasure, and 
could not get any. 

You had best write to me through the Bishop of Glou- 
cester, who will always know where to find me. 

* The Hon. Charles Yorke. 

t By the Honourable Horace Walpole, first published in 1765. 



96 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



TO SIR EDWARD LITTLETON. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 27, 1766. 
I had this morning the news of poor Mrs. Allen's death. 
My distance from Prior Park, and the fear of giving me an 
ungrateful trouble, prevailed with the family not to send 
for me. My promise to poor Mrs. Allen, as I told the 
family, was only to come if I should chance at that time 
to be at London or Gloucester; and these terms were fixed 
by herself, so that, considering the nature of the request, 
I think they did very well not to construe my engagement 
too strictly. Mrs. Warburton's delicacy of respect to her 
aunt's inclinations made her willing that I should be sent 
for wherever I was. But in this I think she carried her 
scruples too far, and her good sense upon second thoughts 
has justified my opinion. 

To this point of time belongs the following 
continuation of Mr. Cradock's reminiscences: 

Almost as soon as Dr. Hurd was fixed at Lincoln's Inn 
he was seized with rather a dangerous illness, which con- 
fined him to his apartments for a great length of time; and, 
as I then resided in Dean Street, Soho, I thought it my 
duty to devote as much time as possible to his service* 
Indeed it was a service that could not be rendered by every 
friend, however inclined, for in summer his room was kept 
so very hot, from fear of an eruption being struck into the 
system, that his servant has retired for air whilst I remained 
with his master. Here he was amused with the little occur., 
rences of the day, or I sometimes read to him specimens of 
new publications. His table was generally covered with 
various books of reference which he had borrowed from Mr, 
Cadell ; and, when he was overcome with fatigue by looking 
them over, I several times took many of them home with me 



BISHOP HURD. 



97 



for more minute examination. I had from early life always, 
more or less, studied divinity; and it was some satisfaction 
to me if I could make any due return, by my assiduity at 
least, for innumerable favours that I had formerly receive*? > 
Whilst waiting his " Discourses on Prophesy," I particu- 
larly alluded to all the books he had occasion to examine. 
" Why, my good friend," said he, " you are better read in 
Daubuz on the Eevelations than I am. I hope you do not 
think that it has passed unobserved by me, that you have 
made yourself well acquainted with those works, that you 
know at this time are particularly interesting to me. I 
duly estimate your attention." 

Before Dr. Hurd was quite recovered, at Lincoln's Inn 
I once called upon him ; and he told me that Bishop War- 
burton was to preach that morning at St. Lawrence's 
Church, near Guildhall, an anniversary sermon for the 
London Hospital. " Then, Sir," said I, "I shall certainly 
attend him." " I wish you would," replied he ; ie and bring 
me an account of all particulars. I believe I know the dis- 
course;* it is a favourite one; but I could rather have 
wished that his lordship would have substituted some 
other;" then, hesitating, he added, "but it is perhaps of 
little consequence ; for he does not always adhere to what is 
written before him ; his rich imagination is ever apt to over- 
flow." I was introduced into the vestry by a friend, where 
the Lord Mayor and several of the governors of the hospital 
Were waiting for the late Duke of York, who was their 
president, and in the mean time the Bishop did everything 
In his power to entertain and alleviate their impatience. 
He was beyond measure condescending and courteous, and 
even graciously handed some biscuits and wine on a salver 
to the curate who was to read the prayers. His lordship, 

* On 1 Cor. xiii. 13. It is amongst his printed sermons : a fine and 
characteristic composition, and worthy of him in all respects. 

H 



98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



being in good spirits, once rather exceeded the bounds of 
decorum, by quoting a comic passage from Shakspeare, in 
his lawn sleeves, and with all his characteristic humour ; 
but, suddenly recollecting himself, he so aptly turned the 
inadvertence to his own advantage as to raise the admiration 
of all the company. Many parts of his discourse were quite 
sublime, and were given with due solemnity; but a few 
passages were, as in his celebrated Triennial Charge, quite 
ludicrous; and when he proceeded so far as to describe 
some charitable monks who had robbed their own begging 
boxes, he excited more than a smile from most of the au- 
dience. " Though certainly, Sir," said I, " there was much 
to admire, yet upon the whole, to speak the truth, I was 
not sorry that you were absent; for I well knew that you 
would not have absolutely approved." " Approved, Sir," 
said he, " I should have agonised ! " 

REV. MR. HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Thurcaston, Oct. 10, 1766. 

I am glad to find by your letter of the 1st that you are 
got to Bath, and in so good a plight. 

I wanted to know where you was, that I might put you 
in mind of what you mentioned to me about passing your 
winters in London. Why should you not take a lodging 
in Lincoln's Inn Fields? Can there be an opener situation, 
or freer air for you to breathe in? By this means we 
should be as near to each other as we used to be at Cam- 
bridge. And why should not you and I spend the evening 
of life together, as we have done the morning ? We have 
drove a'fleld together, why not to fold? 

For we were nurs'd upon the self-same hill* 
Fed the same flock by fountain, shade, and rill. 

In short, I am much in earnest about this project, and hope 
you are no less so. 



BISHOP HUED. 



99 



I am less surprised tlran concerned, as you will suppose, 
at the ill news from Pall Mall.* The general cause of this 
catastrophe is apparent enough: but what could bring it on 
at this moment? Was it the mere agitation of his Bussia 
scheme, or was there any disappointment in it? Poor man, 
at one time or other some misadventure of this sort could 
hardly be avoided. And what matter whether the scene 
lay at Petersburg or London? 

Joe Warton does me too much honour. I find Theo- 
critus is to be a more considerable thins- than the Greek 

o 

Epigrams. But will not the same editor stand in his way 
here too ? I understand that Reiskius has given an edition 
of Theocritus this year at Leipsic. 

Honest John Ludlam f has been to dine with me to-day. 
He is reasonably well, and full of joke and waggery as 
usual. It is true he shakes his head at St. John's; but the 
main cause of his disgust is, that they seem to hesitate about 
allowing him a faggot and a farthing candle to work by in 
the new Observatory. In this he thinks, and surely with 
reason, they do not use him quite well 

* This melancholy incident was the suicide of the Rev. Dr. John 
Brown, already mentioned in this correspondence. This ingenious 
but eccentric man had received and accepted an invitation from the 
Empress of Russia to superintend some grand measures of civilisa- 
tion which she had projected. Preparations had even been actually 
made for his journey, when failure of health obliged him to decline 
the engagement. This, added to other disappointments, caused an 
attack of insanity, of which he had before exhibited symptoms, and 
resulted in self-destruction, Sept. 23, 1766, in the fifty-first year of 
his age. See Letters from a Late Eminent Prelate, &c. ; Letter 
clxxxv and note ; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 214 ; and 
Letters of Gray and Mason, (edit. Mitford,) 1855, p. 360. 

f The Rev. William Ludlam, B.D., is here alluded to. He was 
called John by his friends in allusion to his college. See an account 
of him in Nichols's Lit. Anecd. iii. 639. 

H 2 



100 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



Thurcaston, Feb. 6, 1767. 
.... I despise the whole controversy about Subscriptions 
so much, that it must fall into better hands before I pay any 
attention to it. I know nothing of Farmer's book,* but 
from some scraps in the papers. What I know of himself 
is, that he is a young man, though a great dealer in old 
things. For the rest, I remember the Laureate's advice, to 
shun all authors. The truth is, I have found by experience 
that, as " Manners maketh man," according to the wise adage 
of your great prelate of Winchester, so Letters marreth him ; 
and I resolve in my future conduct to be governed by 
this new maxim — the prince of coxcombs is the scribbling 
coxcomb. Write this down among my wiser sentences . . . 
. . . You must write to me sometimes, as ill as I deserve 
from you. When I am in a humour to do anything, I write 
sermons : and in this work I find the want of a <>;ood Harmon v : 
pray direct me to the best. I wish to know too, what edi- 
tion of Aristotle's works I should buy, and what edition of 
Petrarch. 

REV. MR. HURD TO SIR E. LITTLETON. 

Thurcaston, Aug. 7, 1767. 
I would not let so good a friend as you be informed by the 
newspapers only, that the Bishop of Gloucester has done me 
the honour to appoint me his Archdeacon, f This preferment, 
besides what they call the dignity, is of something more value 
than such things commonly are, there being a small rectory 
in Gloucestershire annexed to it, and it being the only arch- 

* Dr. Richard Farmer's Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare, 
published in 1766. 

t " • • • When I have two such able friends in the Lower House of 
Convocation, I think myself a great loser by no business being done 
there. From this you will conclude perhaps that Pitt judged not 
amiss when he told Mr. Allen that I had very much the spirit of 
Atterbury." (Bishop Warburton to Dr. Balguy, Aug. 17, 1767.) 



BISHOP HURD. 



101 



deaconry in the diocese. I suppose it may be worth near 
200?. a year ; but then a curate for the rectory is to be paid 
out of it. 

BISHOP WAEBURTON TO SIR E. LITTLETON. 
[Endorsed by Sir E. Littleton, "Received 29th August, 1767."] 

Dear Sir, — I have just now had the honour of your 
obliging letter of the loth. Lady Littleton's satisfaction on 
this occasion I am sure is equal to ours. Indeed it would be 
hard to say which of us of the parti carre (I mean of his four 
real friends), receive most pleasure in our Archdeacon's pro- 
motion. But this I am sure of, that the least is much 
greater than what he himself feels for it. 

One step higher on the ecclesiastical ladder would be some- 
thing" to an able climber, such as those he sees both on his 
right hand and his left, who by turning their backs, as they 
rise, upon those that hold the ladder for them, make quick 
work of it. But our friend is so awkward in mounting, that 
he stiU keeps his face towards them ; which must naturally 
hinder his advance. However, he pleases himself; and he 
thinks it ought to please his friends. 

My wife joins with me in our best respects to Lady 
Littleton ; and I have the honour to be, dear Sir 3 your very 
faithful and obedient humble servant, W. Gloucester. 

On Commencement Sunday, July 6, 1768, 
Mr. Hurcl proceeded D.D. at Cambridge; and the 
same day was appointed to open the lecture 
founded by Bishop AVarburton for the illustration 
of the argument in favour of Christianity derived 
from Prophesy. This important appointment he 
fulfilled to the entire satisfaction of the learned and 
judicious audience who assembled in the chapel of 
Lincoln's Inn. The twelve sermons delivered on 



102 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 

this occasion were afterwards published, agreeably 
to the tenor of Bishop Warburton's trust deed, 
and still maintain their reputation, as one of the 
most acute, learned, and sober dissertations extant 
on this difficult subject. In criticising this work 
Mr. Green, in his Diary before quoted, remarks 
with great judgment : — 

The same spirit of discrimination which leads him on some 
occasions to distinguish too subtly, prompts him on others to 
view a question in all its phases, and not to content himself, 
as writers of a more sanguine temperament too frequently do, 
with one leading circumstance in the solution of a difficulty, 
where many might be taken into account as conspiring to 
solve it : he is often eminently happy in this respect. 

This work, as Mr. Chalmers remarks, produced 
a private letter from Gibbon under a fictitious 
name, respecting the Book of Daniel, which Dr. 
Hurd answered ; and, the Editor of Gibbon's Mis- 
cellaneous Works having printed the answer, Dr. 
Hurd thought proper to include both in the edition 
of his Works published after his death (in 1811). 
It was not, however, until the appearance of 
Gibbon's Works in 1796, that he discovered the 
real name of his correspondent. 

In 1769 Dr. Hurd published a selection from 
Cowley's Works, in which he very judiciously made 
a separation between the wheat and the chaff of 
that original and thoughtful but very unequal 
writer. It is well remarked by the author of the 
short memoir of Bishop Hurd before referred to, 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



103 



that there was a strong similarity in many points 
between Cowley and the Bishop, and that a great 
part of the fine character of the former drawn by 
his friend Bishop Sprat would, mutatis mutandis, 
serve equally for Bishop Hurd. We observe in 
both the same sincerity of heart and simplicity of 
manners — the same delicacy of taste and devotion 
to study — the same love of freedom and retire- 
ment — and the same contempt for the trappings of 
greatness. It w r as, no doubt, the sympathy arising 
from this resemblance which directed the Bishop 
in his choice of Cowley as one of the interlocutors 
in his Dialogue on Retirement from the World, 
and which dictated the present selection from the' 
poet's works. 

DR. HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 13, 1768. 

.... Your sermon will certainly suit the occasion very 
well, and will do you credit from the press, provided you do 
not retouch and correct too much. I know the anxieties of 
vou late adventurers, and I have some experience of the 
public taste : therefore the best advice I can give to one who 
always writes accurately is, Manum de tabula. The Duke 
of Grafton, as you say, has made some amends for his Arch- 
bishop,* by the new Professor of History .f I heartily wish 
that Mr. Warton may succeed at Oxford. Tis something 
to keep the fountains clear. The larger rivers, unless they 
flow through a better soil than ours, are always dirty. 

I agree with you about Robertson's book.f I think 
Cadell told me he was to have 3,500/. down, and 500?. more 

* The Hon. Frederick Cornwallis, translated to Canterbury 1768. 
f Mr. Gray. \ History of Charles V. 



104 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



on a second edition. The Scotch, I suppose, who are pas- 
sionate admirers of their historian, are to make the fortune 
of his publisher. I read Byron's Narrative * some time ago 
with pleasure. Porter t has yet escaped me. 

I had last week from Mr. Yorke a notification in form 
of being appointed by the trustees to preach the Bishop's 
lecture. It was attended, as usual, with compliments. But 
I remember my friend Horace's rule, ne cui de te plusquam 
tibi credas. And so far, you will say, is well : the worst is 
I must write, in spite of my own modesty. Let me desire 
you to recollect for me such books as you think it will be 
useful to read; and chiefly those that have been written 
against Prophesy. 

Thurcaston, Oct. 28, 1768. 

. . . Your notions of preaching are certainly right. Few 
hearers distinguish between one sermon and another, when 
the general sentiments are, as they commonly must be, much 
the same. The person, the look, the voice of the preacher 
does everything, even in the best auditories. 'Tis true, these 
sermons on Prophesy are of a different consideration: and 
therefore for the benefit of the lecture I could wish it in 
your and not my hands. 

... I went some time ago to visit Sir Edward and Lady 
Littleton, who had been here for some days this summer. 
There I met with Lord Lyttelton. We had much discourse 
on many subjects, for he is a shiner in conversation. He 
was profuse in his compliments to me on the Dialogues on 
Travel; to all which I bowed, and said nothing — no, not a 
word on his great History 4 So that I doubt we parted on 

* The Narrative of Commodore John Byron's Expedition round 
the World. 1768. 8vo. 

f Observations on the Religion, Laws, Government, and Manners 
of the Turks. By Sir James Porter, F.R.S., Ambassador at Con- 
stantinople. 1768. 2 vols. 12mo. 

+ Of Henry II., published in 1767—1771. 



BISHOP HUM). 



105 



no good terms, though he invited me to Hagley, an honour 
I firmly mean not to do myself. He told Sir Edward he 
found me a different man from what he had expected from 
my writings, and more than intimated that that difference 
was to my disadvantage. I dare say you know the meaning 
of this. 

Lincoln's Inn, May 13, 1796. 
I have a just resentment at the colds which persecute you? 
and the keener perhaps just now for having one myself; 
though Mrs. Warburton tells me she saw you in good 
spirits at Prior Park, which are almost better things than 
good health. 

. . . My Visitation begins at Dursley, and not at Bristol, 
as you had heard. Had it been otherwise, I should have 
taken Bath in my way, for the sake of passing one day with 
you. I set forward to-morrow morning on my journey. I 
had provided Pope's new Letters for my entertainment on the 
road; but, casting an eye upon them, I found them so slender 
a meal, (for by Dodsley's management twelve short letters 
are spread through a two-shilling pamphlet,) that I even 
dispatched them just now over my tea. They are chiefly 
curious for containing, as they seem to clo, the first over- 
tures of friendship with Patty Blount. It grieves me to see 
what a dupe a warm heart made of so good an understand- 
ing. Patty, it seems, had a turn for scribbling verses, and 
that was one of the hairs with which she drew him. So 
that his "heedless youth" was more than once "caught with 
a female wit." If ever I fall in love, it shall not be with a 
poetess. So resolves at present your affectionate humble 
servant, E. Hurd. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 25, 1769. 

Last week I sent my respects to you in a short letter 

to Mr. T. Warton, which was only to tell him that I could 
not yet procure an answer from Mr. Gray, who has been 



106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



from Cambridge ever since the Commencement, and as Mason 
informs me is now rambling in the North, to Keswick and 
other places, and will not return to college till the end of 
next month.* I suspect he is better at executing a plan 
than at contriving one, and therefore have no hopes that 
the scheme he had projected for himself in writing the 
history of English poetry will be of much service to Mr. 
Warton. However, I dare say I shall easily prevail to have 
a copy of it sent to Oxford ; for thither I guess Mr. Warton 
will be going soon. I thought you hypercritical in censur- 
ing his Ode as careless: to me it appeared highly finished, 
as well as masterly in the design throughout : and yet I only 
saw it lamely given, as it might be, in a common newspaper. 

It is true, as you say, I have not been curious enough to 
read Priestley ; and I do not so much as know the title of his 
book.t All I do know is, that he is a wretched coxcomb, 
and of a virulent spirit ; on both which accounts, as well as 
for his want of sense, you will do perfectly well to follow 
your Bishop's advice. 

Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 8, 1769. 
Aristotle and you are a couple of choice phi- 
losophers. Instead of endeavouring to allay the fever of 
the passions, you encourage and promote it. But we must 
have something to hope or to seek; and are there no objects 
of desire or means of activity but deaneries and bishoprics? 
Arc there no books to read or to write? Is there no such 
thing as conversation or amusement? 

Or, to be grave, 

Have we no friend to serve, or soul to save ? 

Will not all this keep a divine from sinking into insipidity 

* See his exquisite description of this tour, addressed to his friend 
Dr. Wharton, in Mason's Life, vol. ii. p. 259, ed. 12mo. 

f Considerations on Church Authority, occasioned by Dr. Balguy's 
Sermon on that subject, 1769. 8vo. 



BISHOP HXRD. 



107 



and disgust? I grant you, in some professions, where the 
views of advancement are necessarily connected with the ex- 
ercise and improvement of our best faculties, you and Aris- 
totle may be right in your philosophy. I should advise a 
lawyer, for instance, to aim at nothing less than the seals, 
because, whether he obtains them or not, he will still be 
happy in himself, and more and more useful to the world 
by cultivating his knowledge, his eloquence, and his judg- 
ment. But say this of churchmen if you can. Is a man 
likely to be the better divine, or to cultivate one useful 
quality the more, for aspiring to Canterbury ? I trow not, 
and I defy you to make good so outrageous a paradox. If 
all this does not satisfy you. let me have you by my fireside, 
and see if I do not talk you out of this scandalous philo- 
sophy. Be sure come hither as soon as you can, and do 
not forget to put half a dozen sermons in your portman- 
teau. You can't imagine how serviceable you may be to 
me ; and you shall always be at liberty to preach or not at a 
moment's warning. There are motives, too, for you; you 
may hope to please this learned audience ; and can you do 
better than seek the conversion of our demi-pagans ? 

Thurcaston, Sept. 13, 1770. 
... I have read, as you have done, Archbishop Seeker's 
Sermons, of which I think better than you do. Informa- 
tion is not the object of a good sermon. — no, not from the 
press. Its end is to persuade men to the practice of what 
they know, confusedly at least, beforehand; or to confirm 
them in the belief of their religion, either by plain familiar 
argument, or by pathetic representation. For the latter the 
Archbishop had no talents, but he excels greatly in the 
former. I grant you that discretion is the capital virtue, 
both of the man and the writer; but discretion in the degree 
in which he possessed it is perhaps the rarest quality of all 



108 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



others, and is hardly to be found in any other of our divines 
except Tillotson. The Life is ill written,* and of no great 
value. 

When I am well enough to amuse myself with anything 
it is with commenting on Mr. Addison. My grammatical 
notes are grown so numerous that I begin to think in 
earnest of giving an edition of his Works — I mean if the 
booksellers will consent to print an edition of them entire 
and separate from the other trash of the Spectator, &c. in 
8vo. a thing they have never yet done. On this idea I 
have even gone so far as to write a preface to the whole, 
with which I am not displeased, and which you shall one 
day see. If I have talents for anything it is for this sort 
of work; and it will not be a slight benefit to the rising 
generation if I should be able to give them a just value for 
Mr. Addison's writings, f 

Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 3rd, 1770. 
You did finely to go to Gloucester, and to do I know not 
what mischief, and then run away to Bath and Winchester 
without sending me notice of what had happened. How- 
ever, what is passed cannot be helped, or rather I hope is 
helped, that is remedied, in a good degree, by this time, 
and therefore I only use this objurgation to introduce a 
command, which is that you forthwith (your pockets being 
now full and your audit over,) repair to this place for the 
rest of the winter. I want you for a hundred things, among 
other things, to know how the world goes, for, though I 
am stationed in the centre of the metropolis, I am as much 
a stranger to what is passing in it (unless you take a lying 
morning paper to be an authentic intelligence) as if I lived 
at Pekin, or at Thurcaston. 

* By Dr. afterwards Bishop Porteus, his chaplain, 
f An edition of Addison's Works, with the Bishop's Notes, was 
published in 1811, 



BISHOP HUKD. 



109 



My Lecture proceeds prosperously, I mean it 

has all the outward signs of prosperity, (and who would 
regard any other?) for, besides the two chiefs,* I had yes- 
terday the Chancellor of Cambridge f and the Speaker of 
the House of Commons J to hear me harangue for an hour 
by Lincoln's Inn clock on the subject of Anti- Christ. I 
dined afterwards at Bloomsbury Square, and heard my 
Lord Mansfield (who is actually alive and in appearance 
well, in spite of Junius, §) trumpet me to the Bishops of Dur- 
ham || and Worcester, IF without so much as paying the 
good company the ordinary civility of blushing. See how 
I grow every day in fame and impudence ! 

Lincoln's Inn, May 1, 1771. 
.... lam reading Dr. Beattie's book** on the Nature of 
Truth, and I must tell you that it is very well worth reading. 
He is very ingenious, and, what I value infinitely more, I 
think a very good man. He may be less subtle than Hume, 
but I honour him for this defect 

Between this amiable philosopher and Dr. 
Hurd a mutual regard, springing from similarity 
of tastes, sentiments, and studies, prevailed. It 

* Lord Mansfield and Sir Eardley Wilmot. 

t Duke of Grafton. J Sir Fletcher Norton. 

§ This mention of Junius leads to the remark that in a forthcoming 
Work of Mr. Joseph Parkes, in which he undertakes by new and im- 
portant documentary evidence to identify Junius, it will be seen how 
high an estimate was formed by that distinguished writer of the lite- 
rary talents, accomplishments, style, and constitutional principles of 
Bishop Hurd. According to Mr. Parkes, Junius, in published poli- 
tical writings, contemporary with the celebrated Letters, has quoted 
the Moral and Political Dialogues, and highly eulogised the Bishop. 

|| Dr. Egerton. ^[ Dr. James Johnson. 

** Dr. James Beattie, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Marischal 
College, Aberdeen. 



110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



may even be supposed to have had a deeper root. 
Both had been raised to distinction from an 
humble sphere of life ; and both had preserved in 
their elevation and intercourse with the great 
that upright simplicity of character, equally re- 
mote from servility on the one hand and presump- 
tion on the other, which forms so attractive a 
recommendation to persons of judgment in a su- 
perior station ; and which thus became one prin- 
cipal means of their advancement. These parti- 
culars must have produced a close and attaching 
sympathy, which, had not distance of residence and 
the necessary avocations of both interfered, would 
no doubt have ripened into a still stricter intimacy. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 13, 1771- 
Poor Mr. Gray's death # has affected me very sen- 
sibly. We have so few persons of any eminence in litera- 
ture left, that the loss is great to the public, and to the 
University, I doubt, irreparable. He was so good as to call 
upon me a little before I left London. I told him I thought 
he looked thinner than usual. He said he had been much 
disordered of late : but I did not suspect that he was in so 
much danger, and that I was not to see him any more. . . . 

You understand the subject of Dr. Beattie's book so much 
better than I do, that I will have no controversy with you 
on that head. All I have to say is, that I should esteem 
the man infinitely, even though you convinced me that 
there was not a word of sense in his book; and, what is 
stranger still, that I must think him the best writer, beyond 
comparison, that Scotland has yet produced. I mean in 

* On the 31st of July this year. The cordiality here expressed 
was duly reciprocated by Gray. See his Letter to Hurd, Aug. 1757, 
in his Memoirs by Mason. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



Ill 



prose as well as in verse. As to the last, Mr. Gray, who 
had known him personally, and spoke of hirn with great 
esteem, thought the " Minstrel " too descriptive, but owned 
the description was in the best taste 

Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 2, 1771. 

Yesterday I preached my Apocalyptic Lecture to 

a full and frequent audience, at the head of which was Sir 
Eardley Wilmot, for my Lord Mansfield was confined by a 
cold. However I dined afterwards with him, and met 
three lords and the young Prince Poniatowski, nephew to 
the King of Poland, whose adventure has lately made so 
much noise. Our conversation turned much upon Tokay, 
and other Hungarian wines. And this is called keeping the 
best company ! 

If I were vindictively disposed I might take ample 
revenge upon you for your contempt of Dr. Beattie.* The 
whole world is in admiration of his book. Lord Lyttelton 
surpasses me in enthusiasm, and Lord Mansfield goes beyond 
us both. This last lord went so far as to recommend the 
author to the Ministry, who, I believe, will do something 
for him. This is the more extraordinary, because David 
Hume is well known to his lordship. All agree that the 
man is as respectable as the author. In short you must 
change your note, or resolve to be silent, when you come 
among us in good company. Cadell tells me that the repu- 
tation of Beattie's book has already affected the sale of 
Hume's works: he says this, though he publishes for Hume, 
and has no concern with Beattie 

Lincoln's Inn, July 10, 1772. 

I hope that you will seriously think of printing 

your Charge. It will certainly do good, and do yourself 
credit at this time. If the Hampshire Whigs as well as 

* Warburton agreed with Hurd, and not with Balguy, on this sub- 
ject. See his letters to Hurd. 



112 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



Tories are not pleased with it (but I dare say they are) the 
more shame for them ! 

Dr. Butler's performance I have not seen: but, sure, he is 
a charming critic ; and, for a man who never uses a meta- 
phor, a most lively and accomplished writer 

You affect to wonder how the Court come to admire my 
sermons : as if the reason were not obvious ! But to show 
you that the Court is not singular in this, I must tell you 
that I had the other day a visit from Dr. Heberden. He 
had been silent hitherto, but now he expressed himself to 
purpose. He said, he had at length gone through my ser- 
mons, and with the greatest pleasure: that the subject to be 
sure was nice and difficult, but that I had said a great deal 

upon it, and in a manner, &c For modesty's sake 

supply this hiatus for me. He concluded with a word 
or two on Cowley, of which (I mean of my edition,) as well 
as the author, he seems a passionate admirer. Go, now, and 
wonder at the Court's partiality to me 

Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 9, 1772. 

I must now tell you honestly that I like your 

Charge * extremely. It will do much good at this juncture; 
it will mortify the Petitioners, both those of the Church 
and the Conventicle, and it will do yourself a great deal of 
honour 

I have had several letters addressed to me on the subject 
of the Sermons, some with names and some without — one 
especially of the last kind, very long and very ingenious, 
from a Free- thinker, f which I shall shew you when we meet. 

The moment you have taken a quantum sufficit of the 
Bath waters, get you back to Winchester, squeeze all the 
pelf you can out of them at the audit, and then come di- 
rectly hither for the winter. I have left off reading 

* On Subscription to Articles of Religion, f Gibbon : see p. 1 02. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



113 



and writing, and want you extremely. Besides, I shall be 
run aground if you do not bring me at least half a dozen 
sermons for Lincoln's Inn. In the mean time, committing 
you and your Charge to the candour of Dr. Kippis and Dr. 
Priestley, and all the doctors at the Feathers Tavern, I am 
here very quietly and serenely, though on my Lord Mayor's 
day, or rather night, yours to command, &c. 

Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 30, 1772. 

Dr. Hallifax * . . . opened his course of lectures 

yesterday ... I was not at the chapel, being martyr'd at 

the time with a sad bilious complaint However, I 

got a sight of his sermon afterwards, and I think it a proper 
one, at least I ought to think so, for it seemed a recapitula- 
tion of my first six sermons. Henceforth, as he said, he is 
to stand on his own legs: and I doubt not he will stand 
ably. But apropos to my bilious cholic. The news of it 
flew to Dr. Heberden, who very humanely came to me this 
morning. As soon as he had heard my history, and pre- 
scribed as he thought fit, he passed immediately, and with 
high approbation, to the mention of that note to your Charge 
which gives up the cause of the Bishops to the petitioning 
Dissenters. What followed was so warm on this subject, 
that we had no time to consider the merits of your Charge 
itself. He reserves himself, without doubt, for your own ear 
on that subject. Is it not much to be lamented, that so 
excellent a man, who might claim respect of all the world 
in his own department, will strive in another province, 
where, at most, he can but merit our pardon on the score 
of his good intentions ? 

Very faithfully yours without a name. 

* Samuel Hallifax, D.D., King's Professor of Civil Law at Cam- 
bridge, Master of the Faculties, and Bishop successively of Gloucester 
and St. Asuph. 

I 



114 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 16, 1772, 

Dear Sir, You know my opinion of Dr. 

B.* I doubt he is a prostitute man. His pamphlet, which, 
however, I have not seen, and only judge of from what I 
hear, does not vindicate him from this suspicion. 

Dr. Kippis has taken it into his head to be marvellously 
complaisant to me: but his compliments must not restrain 
me from saying, that, though in his general argument he is 
unquestionably right, his book is weakly and impertinently 
written, f 

As to our good friend in Pall Mall, if he is so rational, i.e. 
so Socinian, in his divinity, that, except the note I told you 
of, I question much whether the rest of your Charge be to 
his taste. I must tell you, however, that every body else I 
meet with is an admirer of you. Dr. Eoss says, the whole 
is excellent : and paying last night a visit in Bloomsbury 
Square, where the conversation happened to turn on the 
petitioners, Lord Mansfield said he had just come from 
dining with Sir Eardley Wilmot, who spoke in the highest 
terms of a tract on that subject by Dr. Balguy, which had 
given him (Sir E. W.) the clearest and most satisfactory 
ideas on that subject. I said that Dr. Balguy had just 
printed a Charge on Subscription, &c. ; that, as the doctor 
had not, I believed, the honour of being personally known 
to Lord Mansfield, I took for granted he had not taken the 
liberty of sending his lordship a copy of it, but that if he 
would give me leave I would send him mine. He said, he 
should be glad to see it, and the rather, as he knew Dr. 
Balguy to be an extraordinary man, &c. 

* Dr. John Butler, afterwards Bishop of Oxford and Hereford, 
one of the persons to whom Junius's Letters have been attributed ; 
who had now become a defender of Lord North's measures. 

f His " Vindication of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers with 
regard to their late application to Parliament. 1772." 

I Dr. Heberden. 



BISHOP HTRD. 



115 



Lincoln's Inn, June 12, 1773. 

For myself, whoin you kindly inquire after, 

I do just nothing, unless trifling may be called something ; 
for I have spent most of this week in seeing fine places in 
Surrey with my friends Sir Edward and Lady Littleton; 
and I am likely to spend as much of the next at Bulstrode 
with the Duchess Dowager of Portland 

When I blamed your friend of St. Asaph * it was for 
preaching at all on such a subject. I never troubled my- 
self about the side he took in the dispute. In good truth, 
this good man is a very coxcomb. 

Great Russell Street, Bloonisbury, June 15, 1774. 
I hope this will find you at Winchester after your Visita- 
tion, and will suppose that your orthodox sermon to your 
clergy has prepared them to profit by the new book against 
Lindsay. t It begins to make a great noise here, and, if I 
am not mistaken, will give some disturbance to the ration- 
alists every where, especially in Essex Street Let 

me know vour sentiments of it. You will find, without 
doubt, some texts mistaken, others alleged that are not per- 
tinent, more perhaps reasoned from not conclusively: but 
still there is very much of real weight. What surprised me 
most was. to find some deep and solid reflections scattered 
through the whole, which yet seem to be the writer's own : 
for, as I am told, he knows little of our best divines, and, 
in particular, has never read Bishop Butler. The circum- 
stance of his being a layman, and a gentleman, makes a pro- 
digious impression, as it was easy to foresee it would. We 

* Bishop Shipley. 

t " Scriptural Confutations of the Arguments against the One 
Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, produced by Mr. Lindsav, 
in his Apology. By William Burgh, Esq. 1773." 8vo. A Sequel, 
entitled -'An Enquiry into the Belief of the Christians of the First 
Three Centuries," was added by Mr. Burgh in 1778. 

" i 2 



116 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



shall have answers in abundance. His name, I believe, is 
Burgh: he is a member of the Irish Parliament, and has 
lived of late at York 

Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, July 16, 1774. 
Indeed, indeed, my good Sir, you are much too severe 
and hypercritical. What, because the good man * has not 
expressed himself, you would interpret him into a meaning, 
nay would not see or acknowledge the merit of very many 
things not a little extraordinary from such a writer. But 
don't imagine I am going to dispute any one of these things 
with you. I respect them in secret, and, when I find any 
one of our divines, nay of our bishops, writing on an article 
of faith more reasonably than this layman has done, I shall 
know how to value him. When you say that " the revela- 
tion of a mystery destroys the being of it," don't you use 
the word revelation in the sense of clearing up? If so, I 
assent to the truth of your proposition ; otherwise not. Is 
nothing revealed, by which I mean only delivered in Scrip- 
ture, which you do not understand? If this be your case 
it is well ; I think it is not mine. But, as I said, I will not 
dispute with you on these matters; it answers my purpose 
better to mortify you a little for your severity to Lindsay's 
confuter, and therefore I must tell you you are quite out of 
fashion, as you was in the case of Dr. Beattie. Everybody 
admires the writer's sense and parts at least, whatever he 
may think of the main argument. In particular, Mr. Ed- 
mund Burke has sent him a card of the most profuse com- 
pliments, and desires the honour of his acquaintance. 

You may be sure I shall not communicate your letter to 
Mason. I shall only say to him what I did say before he 
left London, that he must not expect you to applaud as I 
do; and now for a new subject in turning over a new leaf. 

* Mr. Burgh. 



BISHOP HLRD. 



117 



I am still here with scarcely any creature about rne to speak 
to. My amusement, too, is the poorest in the world; it is 
only that of preparing a few sermons for the press. You will 
ask me what demon prompts me to print sermons, or, 
indeed, anything else, at a time when nothing is more con- 
temptible than even a good author. To this question I 
hardly know what to answer; all I can say is that I have a 
few sermons by me which I shall not preach again, and yet 
do not care to fling away, and that I am willing to take 
this opportunity of paying my acknowledgements to Lin- 
coln's Inn for their civilities to me ; but, when this debt is 
paid, don't imagine that I shall ever be mad enough again 
to turn author; still, though I talk of publishing, it may be 
a long time hence, though I set the press agoing for my 
amusement. Towards the end of the month I think of 
withdrawing to Thurcaston for the summer 

Great Russell Street, July 30, 1774. 
I thank you for your kind letter. Without quibbling with 
you, I suppose when you say " your faith reaches no further 
than you think you have clear and distinct ideas,' 5 your 
meaning is, that you require the proposition which you are 
to believe to be an intelligible one : otherwise, you will say, 
you believe nothing. Let me ask you then, are not these 
propositions (clearly laid down in Scripture, if any thing be,) 
intelligible propositions ? Namely, that the Father is God, 
that the Son is God, and that the Holy Ghost is God, and yet 
that the Lord our God is one God. You admit they are, 
and you believe them on the authority of Scripture. But 
what then do you conclude from comparing these propo- 
sitions together ? You will say, you conclude nothing. You 
keep to those propositions only, and go no further. But can 
you help concluding, that is believing, thus much, out of re- 
spect for the authority which delivers them : that the Father's 



118 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



being God, the Son's being God, and the Holy Ghost's being 
God, is some way (though you know not how) consistent 
with the Lord our God's being one God? Thus far, methinks, 
you may go without deserting your ground of clear and 
distinct ideas. But if you go thus far, I do not see that 
you fall short of Dr. Wallis,* who thought that the Divine 
Being was in certain respects unintelligible to us, both 
Three and One. And this, after all, is, I think, as far as 
Lindsay's confuter goes: for I do not perceive that he forms 
any system on the subject, or intended to form any: he only 
concludes from a variety of texts, as interpreted by himself, 
and a great part of them,, for any thing I can see, rightly 
interpreted, that thus a reader of the Scripture must needs 
think of the Trinity. I protest to you, I cannot see where 
the nonsense of this talk lies. But you refer me to Mr. 
Locke,| who has a deal to say to the Bishop of Worcester, 
about Person, Nature, Substance, &c. I know how dan- 
gerous it is to make use of these terms, and perhaps the less 
use is made of them the better. But I will tell you frankly 
my mind. Mr. Locke had edified me much more than he 
has done, if, instead of teazing the Bishop, page after page, 
about his not understanding this, and not understanding 
that, he had fairly said what he himself conceived on the 
subject, L e. what he believed about it, and what was not the 
object of his or any man's belief. As he did not do this, it 
is not with the best grace that he resents so much the 
Bishop's hard thoughts of him in respect of the Trinity. 
In a word, I cannot speak or think otherwise of the 

* Dr. Wallis's term for the persons in the Trinity was " Three 
Somewhats." " In strictness of speech our metaphysics have not yet 
given a name to these distinctions, nor do I know any need of it." 
Seventh Letter on the Trinity, 1691, 4to. 

f " A Letter to Bishop Stillingfleet, concerning some passages in a 
Discourse of his Lordship's in Vindication of the Trinity," published 
by John Locke, the philosopher, in 1697. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



119 



Trinity than Dr. Wallis and many of the others have done, 
if I admit Christ to be God, and the Holy Ghost to be God ? 
in the high sense in which I think the Scriptures represent 
them. I do not mean to say that Dr. Wallis's notion clears 
up any thing, nor do I expect that any other man's notions 
should; I only take his notion to be unavoidable in conse- 
quence of Avhat I take to be the sense of Scripture. If I 
could think myself authorised to lower that sense, I should 
be much disposed to sit at Mr. Lindsay's feet. Till then, I 
must continue your orthodox and most affectionate friend 
and servant, K. Hurd. 

Thurcaston, Sept. 17, 1774. 

In your second letter, you tell me that bishops 

and ministers are become patrons of merit. I rejoice for 
honest Tom's good fortune, but see nothing to applaud in 
the great man. Considering his connection with Trinity 
College, he could not well do otherwise. If he could, I 
should not have blamed him, for I think our good friend is 
fitter for almost any thing than to be the governor of a young 
man of fashion. What you say of your bishop's * virtuous 
resolution is just nothing. Out of regard to the Bishop of 
Oxford,t or to somebody else, he has given a good living,J 
which he knew not what else to do with, to Mr. Sturges. 
If he gives the next that falls, which none of his family can 
take, to the greatest dunce in his diocese, his friends may 
still say, and I believe with great truth, that he disposed of 
it to the best of his knoAvledge. . . . 

* Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Winchester. f Dr. Lowth. 

\ Alverstoke, in Hampshire, conferred on the Rev. John Sturges, 
afterwards LL.D. 1783, and Chancellor of the diocese of Winchester. 
He was a nephew of Bishop Lowth, but is said in Nichols's Literary 
Anecdotes, ix. 108, to have owed the valuable living of Alverstoke to 
having married the sister of Dr. Buller, (afterwards Bishop of Exeter,) 
who was son-in-law of Bishop Thomas. 



120 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



SECTION IV. 

The year 1771 witnessed Dr. Hurd's advance- 
ment to the episcopate as Bishop of Lichfield and 
Coventry, on the translation of Dr. Brownlow 
North to the see of Worcester. This elevation 
has been ascribed to King George the Third's 
admiration of his Moral and Political Dialogues. 
It is said that " the King one day, pointing to 
these Dialogues, said, e These made Hurd a 
Bishop. I never saw him till he came to kiss 
hands.' " Considering, however, the dexterity 
with which those about Courts contrive imper- 
ceptibly to direct the choice of princes, we can 
hardly doubt that his powerful friends, Lord 
Mansfield, Mr. Charles Yorke, and Bishop War- 
burton, had much to do with this important step 
on the ladder of promotion. 

On the 5th of June 1776, on the resignation 
of Dr. Markham, afterwards Archbishop of York, 
Bishop Hurd was entrusted with the difficult and 
responsible office of Preceptor to the Prince of 
Wales and the Duke of York. 

This appointment is more directly traceable to 
the impression made on the King's mind by his 
Dialogues, particularly by that on the British 
Constitution, which stamped him in the King's 
opinion as eminently qualified to direct the 



BISHOP HURD. 



121 



education of a future sovereign. This favour- 
able impression is said to have been confirmed 
by Lord Mansfield placing before the King the 
Bishop's Lectures on Prophesy delivered at Lin- 
coln's Inn. 

The advancement of Dr. Hurd to the episco- 
pate rendered vacant the archdeaconry of Glou- 
cester, the presentation to which fell, of course, 
for that turn to the Crown ; but it would appear 
that Bishop Warburton, wishing to have an 
Archdeacon of his own choice, had applied to the 
Minister for the nomination. This produced the 
following handsome letter from Lord North : — 

LORD NORTH TO BISHOP WARBURTON. 

Downing Street, Dec. 6, 1774. 

My Lord, — If I had not been prevented by a visit into 
the country, and the present hurry of business in the House 
of Commons, from paying my duty to His Majesty yester- 
day, I should already have troubled your Lordship with a 
letter upon the same subject with that which I received 
from you this morning. 

I assure your Lordship that, after the great provision his 
Majesty's goodness has made for my brother, there is 
nothing which gives me so much pleasure, in the present 
arrangement of ecclesiastical benefices, as the opportunity 
which it affords me of acknowledging the very distinguished 
merit of Dr. Hurd, and of offering a small tribute of respect 
and gratitude to a person who has done so much honour to 
this age and country as your Lordship. Although I would 
not in another case presume to foresee his Majesty's resolu- 



122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



tion, yet I am so well acquainted with his Majesty's esteem 
for your Lordship that I will venture to promise that he 
will gladly accept of your recommendation to the archdea- 
conry of Gloucester. I must therefore desire your Lordship 
to let me know the name of the person * whom you wish to 
see Archdeacon of Gloucester, and beg leave to assure you 
that your commands will be no sooner known than obeyed 
by, my Lord, your Lordship's very faithful humble servant, 

North. 

DR. HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Great Russell Street, Dec. 9, 1774. 

Dear Sir, — I need not say how kindly I take your con- 
gratulations. I have now kissed hands, and have nothing 
more to do till the Bishop of Worcester is confirmed. 

But one thing occurs to me. The other new bishop and 
myself shall, I suppose, be consecrated together, and I am 
told that I shall have the nomination of the preacher. You 
see what I am going to ask, but will it be possible to pre- 
vail upon you? 'Tis true I think more on the honour that 
will be done me than on your inclination or convenience. 
However, as to this last, I think I may venture to say that 
you will not be called upon till towards the end of J anuary 
or perhaps later. Revolve this thing in your mind, and 
grace your old friend if you can. 

The Bishop of London, f to say nothing of others, was 
very early in his congratulations. He affected to inquire 
after you, and to talk much of you, knowing that he could 
not pay his court more agreeably to the new bishop. 

Mr. Drake has been so good as to leave his name. He is 
higher in my esteem than he perhaps takes himself to be. 

* The Rev. John Webster, LL.B. succeeded Dr. Hurd as Arch- 
deacon of Gloucester, 
f Dr. Terrick. 



BISHOP HURD. 



123 



Our good Bishop of Gloucester overflows in liis joy on 
this occasion. By the way, he is so much considered at 
Court, that I believe he will have the disposal of my arch- 
deaconry, in spite of the Court harpies. I expect every 
day to have to resign it into his hands. This will make 
him very happy, and is in my opinion but a just compli- 
ment, though an uncommon one, to his eminent merit . . . 

Lichfield is on all accounts an eligible see, the value 
about eighteen hundred pounds a year. This I had both 
from Lord North and the Archbishop. 

I have a hundred things to say to you, and therefore 
come hither as soon as you can. I am pestered with civili- 
ties from all quarters; but one heartfelt congratulation 
from such a friend as you is of more worth than a thousand 
well-penned compliments. I am truly, dear Sir, your affec- 
tionate and faithful servant, K. Hurd. 

FROM BISHOP WARBURTON TO DR. BALGUY. 

Gloucester, Dec. 5, 1774. 
I could not forbear troubling you on this occasion, 
though my address to you is at hazard, to congratulate 
with you on this happy occasion of our worthy friend's 
good fortune, on whom the King has bestowed a good 
bishopric, though we thought it long a coming. I believe 
it is not the least share of his happiness that he is sensible 
of the extreme pleasure that this gives to the friends he 
most esteems — yourself and me, for I do Dr. Hurd the 
justice to believe that he reckons us in that number. 

Gloucester, Feb. 16, 1775. 

It was kind in you to preach the sermon for 

our excellent friend. Notwithstanding your modesty, I am 



124 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



assured of the goodness of the performance It was friendly 
in him to ask you about your answer to me concerning his 
promotion. I received your kind letter on that occasion, 
which gave me much pleasure. But my infirmities make 
writing very painful to me, so I hope such friends as you and 
he will excuse my negligences, and never entertain the least 
thought that I am ever a moment forgetful of either of you. 

BISHOP HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Bloomsbury, April 24, 1775. 
Dear Sir, — I thank you for your favour of the 17th 
from Bath. 

The Memoirs,* I take for granted, were sent you from 
the editor. He is now at York, but removes to Aston in 
the beginning of next month. There is some difference in 
opinion about the Letters, but in general they are well liked. 
The Latin poetry pleases me, but many better judges in- 
cline to your sentiments. 

Can you guess where f the following conversation passed 
yesterday ? " The sermon preached at your consecration 
has been generally well received." "I believe, Sir, it has." 
44 This is the second sermon on the occasion by the same 
hand." " Yes, Sir, and I therefore thought myself the 
more obliged by this civility." "Dr. B. is a very ingenious 
man, Mr. Harris f" (who stood next). "Yes, Sir," Mr. 
Harris replied, 44 I have the pleasure to be well acquainted 
with Dr. B., a very learned and ingenious man, and with 

* Of Gray by his friend Mason. 

f At the levee, the King being the questioner. 

| James Harris of Salisbury, a man of much classical acquire- 
ment and great moral worth, author of " Hermes, or a Philosophical 
Enquiry concerning Language and Universal Grammar," and other 
learned works. He was M.P. for Christchurch, Hants, a Lord of the 
Admiralty, and afterwards of the Treasury, and father of the first 
Lord Malmesbury; b. 1709,4. 1780. 



BISHOP HURD. 



125 



several of his friends at Winchester, Mr. Chancellor Hoad- 
ley, Dr. Warton, &c." And then the conversation passed 
to Winchester School and Greek, and the " Philosophical 
Ar rangem ent s . " 

After this dialogue I must disappear as soon as may be, 
and leave you to your own reflections 

Dear Sir, yours, &c. R. L. & C. 

We again resume the anecdotes of Mr. Cradock : 

From the time that Hurd became Bishop, his Lordship 
has been fully before the public. 

Dr. Hallifax wished to succeed him as Preacher at Lin- 
coln's Inn, and calling at Mr. Cadell's in his way to dinner 
with the Bishop, took up a publication that lay upon the 
table, and said aloud to Mr. Cadell, " Who could venture 
to give an old hierarchical tract of Jeremy Taylor at this 
time of day ? * I am sure you will have no sale for it." 
Mr. Cadell was silent. Afterwards at dinner in Great 
Eussell Street, he mentioned the circumstance that some 
simpleton had republished at Mr. Cadell's an old hierarchi- 
cal tract of J eremy Taylor, and he told him that he would 
have no sale for it, but Cadell only turned away and would 
not say who it was. Here likewise a silence ensued. In 
Bloomsbury Square (I had the account from Mr. Main- 
waring,!) Dr. Hallifax inquired whether he had dropped 
anything wrong about a pamphlet. The answer was, " I 
was quite alarmed about it, for I knew that Hurd had 
printed it at his own expense." " Then," said Hallifax, 
" I will go back immediately and apologise to his Lord- 
ship," but Mr. Mainwaring dissuaded him from it, and in- 
sisted that he would only make the matter worse. 

* " A Moral Demonstration that the Religion of Jesus is from 
God :" republished by Hurd in 1775. 

f The Rev. John Mainwaring, B. D., Margaret Professor of 
Divinity at Cambridge. 



126 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Hurd commenced the government of his diocese by 
issuing his summonses in the old Latin form, and hunting 
out for some other ancient formulae, but was informed of 
some ludicrous comments which were imputed, and justly 
too, to a celebrated philosophical physician at Lichfield. 
This gentleman (possibly from his engagements in his pro- 
fession) did not frequently attend the cathedral, although 
he went to hear the Bishop preach his first sermon there, 
and paid great attention. When the service was over, a 
friend of mine determined, if possible, to gain Dr. Darwin's 
real opinion (for why should his name be concealed?). 
The doctor was taken by surprise, and only, stuttering, re- 
plied, " The Bishop's discourse, Sir? Why — it — contained 
some very good words indeed." 

Hurd would sometimes assert that Pope had shut the 
door against poetry, as Addison had, by his " Drummer," 
against all comedy, and then would refer to the fine correct 
taste of the ancients. Sometimes I ventured to take up a 
strongly contrary opinion, and would ask, '•■ Why always 
the ancients?" &c. ; and I read afterwards in his Chivalry 
and Romance, " But I know I shall be asked, Why always 
the antients? " and some other words, as then made use of. 
I understood them. His learning and his prejudice some- 
times equally prevailed. 

Of all the men I ever knew, Hurd, as a country divine, 
carried the loftiest carriage. No person at times in highest 
life looked with more disdain on little folks below, or, to 
speak more correctly, on unlearned folks. When Mr. 
Main waring paid his last visit to Dr. Hurd, then Bishop of 
Worcester, it was his public day. His Lordship, always 
rather irritable, was now become considerably captious and 
peevish, and, Mr. Main waring at dinner giving some ac- 
count of the French emigrants he had seen in passing 
through Worcester, his Lordship suddenly exclaimed, lay- 
ing down his knife and fork, " Have I lived to hear the 



BISHOP HTJRJD. 



127 



Lady Margaret's Professor of Cambridge call it emigrant?" 
The company was struck with astonishment, and the pro- 
fessor only coolly replied, " My Lord, I am certainly aware 
that the i in the Latin of emlgro is long, but modern 
usage — " " Xay, Sir, if you come to modern usage, I can 
certainly say no more." Mr. Mainwaring, considering his 
Lordship's age and increasing infirmities, said no more. 

Though no person could be more obsequious to his friend 
and patron Warburton than Hurd, yet they were totally 
dissimilar in disposition — the one cold, cautious, and refined, 
the other warm, daring, and unguarded. Hurd weighed 
every word he spoke or wrote, and Johnson once said, 
" Sir, he's a word-picker," and another replied, " Yes, Dr. 
Johnson, he always appears to me to be so very precise, 
that I term him an old maid in breeches." Indeed he was 
always so much upon his guard, that I do not believe that 
either his friend Lord Mansfield, or even Warburton, ever 
talked freely or intimately with him. Trifles from others 
gave offence. He once strongly reproved me from seeing 
Tristram Shandy in my classical library, and urged its in- 
stant removal. 

I have mentioned that Hurd and Warburton were totally 
dissimilar. Hurd could read none but the " best things." 
Warburton, on the contrary, when tired with controversy, 
would send to the circulating libraries for basketfuls of all 
the trash of the town, and Avould laugh by the hour at the 
absurdities he glanced at. The learned world could never 
guess from whence the Bishop obtained so many low anec- 
dotes, for his conversation, as well as some of his letters, 
were at times complete comedy. Another instance of con- 
trast between the two Bishops — the one would have gone to 
Bath from Prior Bark on a scrub pony; the other, when 
he went from Worcester to Bristol Hot Wells, was attended 
by twelve servants, not from ostentation, but, rs he thought, 
necessary dignity annexed to his situation and character. 



128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



BISHOP KURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Bloomsbury, Nov. 11, 1775. 

Dear Sir, — I should think it necessary to apologise for 
my long silence, since the receipt of your favour of Sept. 
15th, if you did not know my aversion to letter-writing 
when I have nothing to say. 

My time passed at Eccleshall, as you would suppose, in 
receiving visits and in returning them, though in truth they 
were so numerous that more than half were left at last un- 
paid. The public business called me hither sooner than I 
could have wished, and now that matter in abundance is 
furnished to me, what shall I say? Only that I have 
spent three tedious nights in hearing what afforded me no 
information, and gave much pain. The malignity and 
folly of faction are not to be imagined. Yet the tide, I 
think, is turned. The defection of one or two weak or 
peevish people makes no impression ; and the minority sank 
last night in numbers, in argument, and even in eloquence. 
Yet in saying this I do not mean to take advantage of 
Lord Lyttelton's concession to the ministry. You may 
depend upon it that Lord Weymouth is Secretary of State 
in the room of Lord Rochford, who resigns, and Lord George 
Germaine Secretary for America, in the room of Lord Dart- 
mouth, who succeeds the Duke of Grafton in the Privy 
Seal. Of other things I cannot speak so positively, and 
these changes will be generally approved. 

But why do I trouble you with this trash? Let me 
know when you come hither, and when you think of 
putting Dr. Powell's Sermons,* and I hope something of 
your own, to the press. 

Mr. Arnald was so good to stay with me till his business 
called him to college in the beginning of October. He is a 
good creature, but I think should leave college, if we could 

* These admirable Discourses were published by Dr. Balguy in 
1776, in one vol. 8vo. 



BISHOP HURD. 



129 



find a proper occasion to take hirn from it. I shall insist on 
your being as good as your word, to see next summer how 
we pass our time at Eccleshall. 

Dr. William Arnald, named in the pre- 
ceding letter, was the son of Mr. Hurd's prede- 
cessor at Thurcaston,* and was introduced to his 
notice by having been sent, when very young, to 
treat with him, upon his coming to the living, 
respecting the fixtures of the house. The night 
being snowy, Mr. Hurd detained him as his 
guest, and the favourable impression made on 
tliis occasion probably led to their future friend- 
ship. Mr. Arnalcl was educated under Mr. Law- 
son at Manchester, and entered at St. John's 
College, Cambridge, B.A. 1766, and a high Wran- 
gler, Fellow of his college 1767, Tutor 1768. In 

1775 he was Chaplain to Bishop Hurd, and in 

1776 was appointed Sub-Preceptor to the Prince 
of Wales and the Duke of York. He proceeded 
D.D. in 1781, on which occasion he preached the 
Commencement Sermon. He was subject to 
occasional derangement, and was staying at 
Hartlebury, when^his last paroxysm, of which he 
was perfectly aware, came upon him. Bishop 
Hurd in a letter to Dr. Balguy, dated June 9, 
1782, says, " Poor Dr. Arnald grew ill before he 
left me, and is now under confinement." Prom 
that year to the time of his death, which hap- 

* The Rev. Richard Arnald, author of a Commentary on the 
Apocrypha. 



130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



pened at Leicester, he continued under restraint. 
Several gentlemen, however, to whom he was 
known, used to visit him and play with him at 
backgammon. His delusion seemed to he ambi- 
tion. He sometimes wore a mitre, and while 
yielded to was tolerably composed. His death is 
thus mentioned by the Bishop in his Dates of Oc- 
currences, &c. : <£ My most deserving, unhappy 
friend, Dr. William Arnald, died at Leicester, 
Aug. 5, 1802." 

Dr. Arnald was much valued by his friends 
for his great abilities^ gentleness of manners, and 
goodness of heart. His Commencement Sermon, 
which gave offence by the honest freedom of its 
exhortations to maintain the character of the 
university by a regard to letters, morals, and 
religion, is a model of sober piety and sound 
judgment in its sentiments, and of elegant sim- 
plicity in its expression. It was published, agree- 
ably to the directions of his will, in 1803. 

BISHOP HUKD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Bloomsbury, June 7, 1776. 
You will imagine what I felt, and still feel, though not 
perhaps so much as you feel for me. In duty and gratitude I 
could not decline this charge.* I am not anxious for myself 
so much as for Mr. Arnald, who sacrifices a great deal to 
his friendship for me. 

I have a spare bed at Kew, and let me invite you thither, 
as I am not likely now to see you at Eccleshall. 

The young Princes (I do not say it for form sake, and in 
the way of compliment) are extremely promising. 

* That of the education of the Princes. 



BISHOP HUED. 



131 



Kew, June 8, 1776. 

Something like a plan of studies is projecting, 

and will be wanted in no long time, and we shall not satisfy 
ourselves without your advice 

Great Russell Street, April 25th, 1777. 

I thank you, my dear Sir, for your kind favour of 23rd. 
Sir Edward will be at Bath before you receive this, and I 
hope will find my Lady Littleton tolerably, notwith- 
standing the croaking of her Jew doctor.* The reason of 
my wishing to hear so soon of Sir Edward was, that I 
wanted by his means to acquaint Mr. Edward Horton f 
(whom I knew not how to direct a letter to) that I had 
one of my pitiful little prebends of Lichfield to make him an 
offer of. It is the first that I have had fallen, and, though 
a trifle, (the reserved rent being about 13^) I have fancied 
it may not be unacceptable to him. 

The same death that vacates this stall vacates also a 
living of about 701. a-year for poor Ball.i But the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury has asked it for a friend of his, to hold 
with Eccleshall, (his option,) and offers me instead for Ball 
two livings in the Isle of Thanet, to the amount of 150?. 
a-year, and, as far as I can learn, not ill-conditioned, which 
I fancy he will accept. 

I heartily wish the Bishop of Oxford may have life and 
health enough to reap' the benefit of his new promotion. § 

Dr. Boss will certainly, I believe, be the next Bishop. 

* Dr. Ralph Schornberg, an eminent physician at Bath. 

f Rev. Edward Horton of Queen's Coll., Cambridge, LL.B. 1775. 

I The Rev. David Ball, the Bishop's Curate at Thurcaston and 
Ansty in 1763 (before noticed in p. 72) was collated by Archbishop 
Moore in 1785 to the rectory of Aldington with Smeeth, Kent; 
and in 1809 presented to the vicarage of St. Mary Sandwich by the 
Archdeacon of Canterbury. He died about the year 1823. 

§ Dr. Butler, before noticed in p. 114. 

K 2 



132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



I write by tKis post to Sir Edward, and will therefore 
only trouble you witli my respects to Mrs. Drake. 
Dear Sir, your most faithful and affectionate servant, 

E. Lichfield & Cov. 

SAME TO SAME. 

Kew Green, Aug. 11, 1777. 

I have your kind letter of the 5th, and am sorry I can- 
not see you here, where indeed my friends cannot much 
enjoy themselves, nor I them. 

Your papers on the German Empire will answer my pur- 
pose perfectly with a very little alteration. Your scheme 
on Government is too good to be thrown away on the oc- 
casion. Perhaps I shall put down something myself, or 
you may write in a single morning when we meet in Lon- 
don all I wish you to say on the reason and foundation of 
Civil Government, and of conformity to that mode of it 
which happens to be established in any country, &c. all 
which I mean chiefly in opposition to such schemes as tend 
to nourish tyranny in governors and licentiousness in the 
governed. You understand me. But let this sleep for the 
present. 

Kobertson's History * may be worth your running over. 
There is a deal of prate in it, according to the Scotch way 
of writing history, and indeed everything else. His civility 
to Gibbon and Kaynal make me suspect his religion to be 
of a piece with that of his friend Hume 

Our friend Mr. Arnald, I hope, will flourish in this soil. 
He takes to it well, and has plenty of Court dew sprinkled 
upon him. My anxiety is only for him, and that his merits 
should not go unrewarded 

I wish you, dear Sir, a pleasant summer between your 
two delicious residences of Alton and Winchester. Here am 
* His History of America, first published in 1777. 



BISHOP HFRD. 



133 



I chained on the banks of the Thames, for my sins, no 
doubt, as other culprits are. All I can do is, to send my 
written respects to Mrs. Drake, and to assure you in one 
word that I am truly yours, E. LiCHF. and Gov. 

Bloomsbury, Nov. 15, 1777. 

I have very little kindness for any Scotch writer, 

except one or two, and for those only or chiefly because they 
have the feelings of men. Vanity, parade, false taste, and 
infidelity are the portion of the rest. . . . 

I have real pleasure in hearing that a scholar, and what 
is more an author, is springing up in the Peak. His design 
is good, and his execution, under your care, will not be con- 
temptible. But I have no notion how he can answer 
Farmer to purpose without books, though I must confess 
that Farmer himself wrote against the Demoniacs without 
the use of many. It is true that he wrote accordingly.* 

Dr. Ogden sent me his Sermons on the Articles of the 
Christian faith. f I am delighted with them. They will do 
infinite sendee at Cambridge and elsewhere. I sent him 
word I should put them into the Princes' hands, when they 
had finished Archbishop Seeker. 

I read the Colonisation of the Antients i in the summer, 
at Kew, and was entertained. The author, as you would 
see by his style, is a Scotch minister. 

* The Rev. Hugh Farmer published his "Essay on the Demoniacs 
of the Xew Testament " in 1775. A list of the several works in this 
controversy will be seen in Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual. 

t Fourteen Sermons on the Articles of the Christian Faith, 1777, 
8vo. Dr. Ogden has been before mentioned in p. 51. 

J A History of the Colonisation of the Free States of Antiquity, 
applied to the present contest between Great Britain and her American 
Colonies, 1777, 4to. It was written by William Barron, F.R.S.E., 
Professor of Logic and Belles Lettres in the University of St. 
Andrew's. 



134 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



SAME TO SAME. 

Great Russell Street, April 27, 1779. 
The Bill of the Dissenters, with the Declaration, I sup- 
pose will pass; and then we shall have done with them. 
Cambridge has been absurd enough to boggle at the Decla- 
ration, and so, I conclude, has disobliged her sister Oxford. 
But both these illustrious bodies join in petitioning the Le- 
gislature for what they value more than , the privilege 

of printing Almanacs — \he classics, I suppose, of the univer- 
sities of England. The Vice-chancellor of Cambridge has 
been with me ; but I could not make him sensible that the 
University had played the fool, or rather the knave, in taking- 
no part, some time ago, in the cause of literary property. 

London, May 12, 1779. 

This will inform you, if you have not heard it before, that 
the Dissenters Bill was committed yesterday, and passed 
the House of Lords without opposition, and without one 
word on either side for or against it, except something, 
which nobody listened to, from Lord Abingdon. The thing 
is now over, and we shall hear no more from that quarter. 

1 agree with you entirely on the Chapter of Toleration : 

but I do not think the Declaration, for which Oxford peti- 
tioned, and Cambridge would not, in the least degree in- 
tolerant; for the Bill respects only Protestant Dissenting 
Ministers, who are professed Christians, and I see no intole- 
rance in requiring men to declare what they believe. The 
principle the Dissenters went upon is a horrid one, the 
principle of the old Puritans, and of the Papists, I mean 
the principle of independence of the civil power. " What 
business," say Price and his crew, "has the Legislature to 
enjoin any thing on me that respects religion? I am a 
Christian, but will not say this by compulsion." Indeed ! 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



135 



but what if the Legislature required you to declare your 
belief iu God? or rather, does it not require you to make 
this declaration whenever it calls upon you to take an oath ? 

The short of the matter is, we are mad in more ways 
than one, and particularly in our notions about liberty, civil 
and religious. This makes me think that, much as I ap- 
prove and admire your Charge on Toleration, it will not be 
seasonable to publish it just now. The Dissenters Bill, as 
I said, is not a Bill for universal toleration, but only for 
the toleration of men of a certain description. Xobody, how- 
ever, will or ought to be punished for religious opinions. 

Lord Xorth is so supine that he has suffered the Adultery 
Bill and the Universities Bill for Almanacs to be thrown 
out in the House of Commons. I agree with you that the 
Universities deserved this treatment, as I frankly told the 
Vice -Chancellor of Cambridge, when he came the other day 
to solicit my assistance. 

Kew Green, August 18, 1779. 

I returned to this place this day from Windsor, whither 
the Court went for about a fortnight to celebrate the birth- 
days of our two Princes. The time passed in jollity and dis- 
sipation, notwithstanding the cloud that hangs over us. 

During our stay at Windsor I was dragged again to 
Farnham. The old man* seemed well and hearty. For 
the rest, I have little concern about him, and none at all 
about his bishopric. 

I agree with you in the detestation of David Hume's Dia- 
logues, f but not in thinking that no notice is required of them. 
On the contrary, I hold it fit, and even necessary, that they 
be confuted : and yet I know but one person that can do it to 

* Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Winchester ; he died in 1781. 
t Dialogues concerning Xatural Religion, 1779, 8vo. 



136 



LIEE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



purpose. I beg of you, my dear Sir, to think seriously of 
this design. You understand the subject perfectly, and you 
have the art of representing in few and clear words what 
would set it in a just light. As little of controversy as you 
please, but let something be put together this summer from 
your papers that may obviate, I do not say the whimsical 
fancies, but the destructive impiety, of this blasphemer. 
Again, I must press this upon you, as a matter of strict 
duty. 

Kew Green, Sept. 6, 1779. 

I do not write this to say one word to you on Mr. 
Arnald's promotion.* You will guess, without my doing so, 
how sincerely rejoiced I am at it. Indeed, I could not be 
at ease till I saw him satisfied, in some degree, for the lucra- 
tive station he left at College at my request. In time I 
trust he will be to his heart's content. 

I only write now to put you in mind of what I said in 
my last. This book, as you say, is ingenious, but so por- 
tentously mischievous, that I hold a good answer to it of 
more importance than a victory over the combined fleets; 
and I know not whence to expect such a one, but from you. 
Pray set about it in good earnest. It will do you infinite 
honour. To say more, it will brighten the evening of your 
life, and give a satisfaction as well as glory to it which the 
mitre of your diocese (so well deserved by you) could not 
have done. 

Bloomsbury, Dec. 10, 1779. 

I have so many things to say to you that, according to 
my usual laziness, I make none of them the subject of a 
letter. I incline to your opinion about the impropriety of 
publishing the fragment of the ninth book of the Divine 
Legation. But the thing may not be in our power; as the 

* To a Canonry of Windsor. 



BISHOP HUPvD. 



137 



good man,* by I know not what neglect or forgetfulness, 
said nothing of it in his will. I thought it right, however, 
to take the opinion of Mr. Towne, to whom I sent a copy of 
this piece, but have not received his answer. 

I will not attempt to say [one word of public 

affairs. The folly of some, and the madness of others, is in- 
credible. What turn the Irish affairs will take we shall 
know on Monday next. All men that are in their senses 
hope for the best. 

What I have most at heart is to understand from you 
that you have thought seriously of confuting that enemy of 
all godliness, David Hume. Think better, i. e. more justly 
of yourself, than to suppose you cannot do it to the satis- 
faction of all reasonable readers. It is your infirmity to see 
difficulties where there are none, or none insuperable. Have 
a confidence in yourself, and all the world will have it too. 

These earnest persuasions of the Bishop were 
not lost upon his friend ; for in 1781 Dr. Balguy 
published his antidote to the poison of Hume's 
infidel notions, in the form of a short treatise, 
entitled, " Divine Benevolence asserted and vin- 
dicated from the Objections of Ancient and Mo- 
dern Sceptics." This, though but a specimen of 
a larger work, is a piece of uncommon merit, and 
fully justifies the high encomium passed upon it 
by the Bishop in a subsequent letter. 

The reputation, both as a divine and as a 
preacher, which the Bishop had acquired by his 
Warburton " Lectures on Prophesy," was fully 

* Bishop Warburton, who died Jan. 7, 1779. The fragment here 
mentioned, which had been printed by the author, was first published 
in the 4to. edition of his Works in 1788. 



138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



sustained by his publication in the year 1776 of 
a volume of Sermons preached at Lincoln's Inn, 
which was afterwards followed by a second and a 
third. These discourses are distinguished by 
acuteness, originality, exact method, and, above 
all, by a vein of serious piety, and are written in a 
style of simple unaffected elegance. They are 
precisely such as would be heard with interest 
and effect by persons accustomed to reasoning 
and investigation, and as such were fully appre- 
ciated by the learned auditory to which they were 
addressed. 

Professor Mainwaring, in the dissertation pre- 
fixed to his sermons, says, " No person ever un- 
derstood the art of method so thoroughly, or has 
been so successful in shewing the advantage of it, 
as the present Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry." 

Mr. Green's judicious remark * on these Ser- 
mons is : 

" I have never met with discourses which, 
without yielding to the prevailing laxity of opi- 
nion, are so admirably adapted to work upon the 
reason and feeling of the age as these." 

Mr. Kilvert, the Bishop's chaplain, in his copy 
of the Bishop's Sermons, in possession of the 
Editor, has made the following note— 

The Bishop's manner of preaching is well described in 
the following words of Pliny : 

Equidem Parentis publici sensum ciim exhortatione ejus, 
turn pronunciatione ipsa" perspicere videor. Quse ilia gra- 
* Diary of a Lover of Literature. 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



139 



vitas sententiarum ! quam inaffectata Veritas verborum ! quae 
asseveratio in voce ! quae affirmatio in vultu ! quanta in 
oculis, habitu, gestu, toto denique corpore fides ! (Paneg. 
in Trajan. C. lxvii.) 

BISHOP HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

London, Sept. 23, 1780. 

Pear Sir, — I send you the inclosed at the instance of the 
indefatigable Sir David.* He is now translating Minutius 
Felix, or rather, as he writes, has done it, and wants your 
revisal. But you scarce deserve this honour, if it be true, 
as he complains, that he has heard nothing from you since 
he sent his last book. This cannot be, for the book was 
dedicated to you, and you could not, in conscience, neglect 
so long your dedicator. 

The poor man, I believe, amuses himself with these 
things to forget some distressful circumstances in his family. 
So it will be kind in you to revise his MS 

TO THE SAME. 

London, Dec. 14, 1780. 

My Sermons have the fortune to be reasonably 

well received; these two volumes better than the first. I 
scarce know for what reason. All this you will not wonder 
at, for our wise readers like an author who writes to their 
own level. I hope and believe that your work (which I 
reckon on your putting to the press as soon as you. come 
hither,) will be very unpopular. For I stick to my text, on 
which you will find I have commented very notably — woe 
to that man or writer of whom all men speak well. 

* Sir David Dalrymple, titular Lord Hailes (or New Hailes), a 
well-known Scotish lawyer, scholar, and antiquary, born 1726, died 
792. 



140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



Mr. Arnald and I are in statu quo. Yet we think there 
is a prospect of release and liberty with the new year. 

The indefatigable Sir David is translating Minutius Felix, 
and writing notes. Of the last, I have a large farrago in 
my hands, and am to keep them, I suppose, till his Arch- 
Critic arrives. This Sir David is a good, well-intentioned 
man, has learning and sense, but is withal immoderately 
vain ; which. I conclude, not from his writing so much, (for 
then how should another friend of yours escape?) but from 
his teazing his friends so immoderately with his MSS. 
However, with all his imperfections upon his head, give me 
a writer — an animal that is now become a rara avis, and 
much to be stared at, even in our learned universities 

Bloomsbury, May 4, 1781. 

Your little book* is universally 

applauded. I do not mean by that, that it is universally 
understood. But your name convinces, or rather silences, 
those who do not or cannot understand. This I foresaw 
and reckoned upon, as one of the chief benefits of your con- 
futing these blasphemers. Your work will do immense 
good : I wish this or any other consideration could prompt 
you to go on with the rest. 

In the year 1781 the Bishop was elected a 
Member of the Royal Society of Gottingen. 

Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Winchester, having died 
May 1, 1781, Bishop Hnrd received the next 
morning a letter from the King by a special 
messenger from Windsor with the offer of the 
see of Worcester, in the room of Bishop North, 
who was to be translated to Winchester, and of 
the Clerkship of the Closet in place of the late 

* See p. 137. 



BISHOP HURD. 



141 



Bishop Thomas. These marks of royal favour 
the Bishop with due gratitude accepted. 

Prom the time of his advancement to the see 
of Worcester, Bishop Hurd appears, from the 
scattered notices preserved in his letters, as well 
as from traditional evidence, to have divided his 
time between the calls of his important diocese, 
his studies, and becoming hospitality towards his 
friends and neighbours, varied only by occasional 
visits, and attendance upon his parliamentary 
duties. 

His first act on coming to his new diocese, was 
to put his noble episcopal residence, Hartlebury 
Castle, in complete order, to build a library, and 
to furnish it with the books of Bishop Warburton 
which he had purchased. 

Hartlebury is a village pleasantly situated on 
the road from "Worcester to Kidderminster, distant 
about ten miles from the former and four from 
the latter. The Castle is a venerable pile, con- 
sisting of a centre containing (besides other apart- 
ments) a fine baronial hall, and of projecting 
wings, one of which, to the south, is formed by 
the Chapel. The Library built by Bishop Hurd 
occupies a considerable part of the western side 
or back of the Castle. It is on the first floor, 
eighty-four feet long, and built over a gallery of 
equal dimensions. 

The Castle is picturesquely placed on the edge 
of a deer park of about a mile and a half in 
circuit, on a gentle eminence, above a fine arti- 



142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



ficial lake which skirts it on the west. The gar- 
dens contain elevated terraces of turf to the south, 
sloping down to the level of the lake. On these 
terraces, which are visible from the park, being 
separated only by a sunk fence, the royal family, 
on their visit to the Bishop in 1788, exhibited 
themselves to the admiring gaze of a great con- 
course of the country people. The front ap- 
proach from the east is by a noble avenue of 
lime-trees. 

Erom this point of time the Bishop's corre- 
spondence with Dr. Balguy proceeds as follows : 

Hartlebury Castle, July 16, 1781. 

At length I am come to this place. It is large and 
handsome^ and will be an agreeeble residence when the 
house is thoroughly cleaned, and repaired, and furnished. 
But all this will take so much time, that I cannot expect to 
live in it as I would this summer. However, I shall be 
able to entertain a few of my friends : and if you can con- 
trive to make me in your way as you return from the 
North, yon know how glad I shall be to see you. To 
tempt you the more, Dr. Arnald comes to me after the 12th 
of August, and stays till towards Michaelmas. This time 
may perhaps suit you. This Dr. Arnald has been preach- 
ing at Cambridge, and, like a knight-errant, would needs be 
telling the truth, and so has very naturally given offence. 
The worst part of the story is, he is made unhappy by this 
So necessary effect of his own plain dealing — a sure proof 
that nature never designed him for a Reformer. And so, 
for the future, I take for granted, he will preach, not so Well 
indeed, but more like other men. 

I take it for granted that the Bishop of Gloucester goes 



BISHOP HUKD. 



143 



to Ely;* and it is not improbable that Dr. Hallifaxf will have 
Gloucester. You had heard at Bath, and mentioned to me, 
the rumour about Mrs. W.J and Mr. Smith. The last week 
she wrote to tell me that she had resolved to marry him, 
and gave many reasons for her conduct. You may be sure 
I did nothing else but give her joy of this connection. I 
suppose the wedding is over by this time. 

My house is full of appraisers and surveyors, &c. This is 
no time, therefore, for writing long letters. Only come to 
me, and we will talk it out. 

I desire my respects to Mrs. Drake, and am always your 
affectionate friend and servant, K. Worcester. 

Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 6th, 1781. 

My dear Sir, — A mitre so offered is a real honour, 
and a greater so refused. I cannot enough venerate the 
King for making you this offer; but, as happy as I should 
have been with such a neighbour at Gloucester, I cannot in 
earnest blame you for not accepting it. 

To make me some amends, come and spend the next 
month with me here. Dr. Arnald, you know, comes after 
the birthdays, and my hurry in receiving company will end 
with this month. You will find this an agreeable place. 
The worst is, there is not a book here^ nor any repository 
for those I have at Gloucester. This, I doubt, will put me 
to the expense of building. But this is only one of the 
many embarassments we draw upon ourselves by accepting 
bishopricks. 

Iam^ dear Sir $ your most faithful and affectionate servant, 

R. Worcester. 

* The Hon. James Yorke, Bishop of Gloucester 1779, translated 
to Ely 1781, died 1808. 

f Dr. Hallifax, (before noticed in p. 113,) was now raised to the 
see of Gloucester ; to that of St. Asaph in 1789 ; died 1790. 

"I Mrs. Warburton, the widow of the Bishop, was married at this 
date to the Eev. Staflbrd Smith. She died at Fladbury, Sept. 1, 1796. 



144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



P.S. You did well to write to Dr. Arnald. He would 
say what was fit; and the King thinks so nobly, that he 
would take your refusal in good part. 

Hartlebury Castle, Nov. 13, 1781. 

Your account of the heats in Yorkshire does 

not surprise me. There is a madness among us that 
threatens to be universal, especially if this war continues. 
The state of the Church I could weep over, if tears would 
do any good. You did wisely to keep to your private 
station. And, by the grace of God, mine, which is already 
much too high, shall never be more public 

Bloomsbury Square, May 11, 1782. 
I wrote a hasty line to you last night to Bath, forgetting 
at the moment that you are now at Alton; I therefore re- 
peat what I said in my letter, that you may know it as soon 
as possible. 

Late last night I had the honour to receive a gracious 
letter from the King, in which are these words : " My 
good Lord, on Monday I wrote to the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury my inclination to grant Doctor Balguy a dispensa- 
tion from performing the strict residence required by the 
statutes of the Chapter of Winchester, provided the Arch- 
bishop and the Bishop of the diocese (whom I desired him 
to consult) saw no objection in this particular case to such 
an indulgence. On Wednesday the Archbishop told me 
he had followed my directions, and that he and the Bishop 
agreed in the propriety of the step, and thanked me for 
having first asked their opinion, which must prevent this 
causing any improper precedent. I have now directed Lord 
Shelburne to have the dispensation prepared for my signa- 
ture. You may now therefore communicate my intention 
to Dr. Balguy." I mentioned in my letter to Bath, that I 



BISHOP HUB.D. 



145 



tliouglit you should write to me such a letter on this occa- 
sion as I could shew the King, or, rather, that you should 
address a letter of thanks for this and all favours to the King 
himself, which I would deliver. But, as you are so near, I 
now think if you ran up hither, so as to be at his levee on 
Wednesday or Friday next, it would be better. I desire you 
will come directly to me. I shall have a warm bed for you, 
and another for your servant. I hope this additional mark 
of the King's favour to you will be a pleasure as well as a 
relief to you. Nothing was ever done with a better grace. 
Always, dear Sir, yours affectionately, 

K. Worcester. 

P.S. If it should not be convenient to attend the levee 
on Wednesday or Friday next, write such a letter to me as 
I can shew to the King, giving some plausible reasons for 
not coming, and expressing your impatience to attend in 
person as soon as possible. I have seen the King to-day, 
and understand that you will receive a letter from Lord 
Shelburne. 

Sabbath Evening. 

TO DE. BALGUY. 

Hartlebury Castle, Feb. 8, 1783. 
.... Priestley's nonsense is not to be wondered at; 
but his impertinence in sending it to me, and calling upon 
me to read it, shews him to be out of his head. I suppose 
he was fool enough to think I would dispute with him, as 
poor Bryant did; but in this he w T ill be mistaken. 

(Copy of Dr. Priestley's letter inclosed in the above.) 

"Birmingham, 11th Dec. 1782. 
" Dr. Priestley presents his respectful compliments to 
Bishop Hurd. He begs his acceptance of a copy of his 

L 



146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



History of the Corruptions of Christianity, and requests 
his particular attention to the General Conclusion, part ii." 

Upon the death of Archbishop Cornwallis, 
May 1, 1783, Bishop Hurd was pressed hy the 
King, with many gracious expressions, to accept 
the archbishopric of Canterbury. This however, 
as he himself states, " he humbly begged leave 
to decline, as a charge not suited to his temper 
and talents, and much too heavy for him to sus- 
tain, especially in these times." " The, King," he 
adds, " was pleased not to take offence at this 
freedom, and then to enter into some confiden- 
tial conversation on the subject." The Bishop, 
in relating the circumstance to Mr. Nichols, 
said, " I took the liberty of telling his Majesty 
that several much greater men than myself had 
been contented to die Bishops of Worcester, and 
that I wished for no higher preferment." The 
result was that the archbishopric was given to 
Dr. Moore, Bishop of Bangor, it has been stated, 
upon the recommendation of Bishop Hurd. On 
the 13th of the month he writes to Dr. Balguy : 
" I am truly happy, as you suppose, in having 
escaped Lambeth, though the offer of it could 
not but be flattering to me. A friend of yours * 
would not have said, Nolo arcMepiscopari ; but 
the King knows his Bishops well, and has pro- 
vided better for us." 

* Probably the Hon. Dr. Brownlow North, at this date Bishop of 
Winchester, and who had been Hurd's predecessor at Worcester. 



BISHOP HI7RD. 



147 



Hartlebury Castle, Oct. 19, 1783. 

As to your duke,* he is, to express myself in 

Sir Edward Littleton's phrase, " a half-sense fellow," which 
is a thousand times worse than no sense, for that imposes 
on ninety-nine persons out of a hundred, and this upon 
nobody. 

To tell you the truth, I have given the public over for 
gone ever since I was in a situation to look about me, which 
makes me the more solicitous to make the best of the pre- 
sent world, such as it is, by having as much of your com- 
pany as I can, and therefore I the more regret the want of 
it in this gloomy season. 

To enliven it what I can, I am turning over my old cor- 
respondence with Dr. Warbiirton, in which I find frequent 
and friendly mention of you. This, among other reasons, 
will tempt me to preserve many of his letters, and to give 
them in due time to this wretched world, if it be only to 
shame it into a better opinion of that excellent man by 
shewing it the regard he had to real merit. 

I have also with the same design reviewed, and I think 
completed, my account of his life, which does not displease 
me. A vain author, you will say, is soon pleased; but in 
this case my vanity is out of the question, for I do not 
mean that this Life shall appear till I am out of the reach 
of the world's censures or applause. 

In the year 1783 the Bishop received a visit 
from Lieutenant Budworth, the nephew of his 
old and highly respected schoolmaster, who has 
given the following graphic and characteristic 
account of their interview : — 

* Qu. Harry Powlet, the sixth and last Duke of Bolton c * 
L 2 



148 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



On my return from Gibraltar, I made Hartlebury in my 
way, and introduced myself to Dr. Hurd, purposely to thank 
him for the honourable mention he had, in his dedication 
to Sir Edward Littleton, made of my uncle. 

He was in a flow of spirits, and I was vain enough to 
think the out-of-the-way visit from the only nephew of his 
early friend added pleasure to the fleeting hours. After my 
first reception, and the look of suspicion had vanished, he 
eyed me with growing complacency ; and during our walk 
in his long gallery, and after two or three silent turns, he 
did me the satisfaction of saying I was like my uncle ; but, 
as he said, u Mr. Budworth had more ruddiness of face, and 
was fairer ; and yours wears the sun-burnt tinge of having 
served in a hot climate; and, indeed, young man, the having 
witnessed that siege will be a recommendation to you in 
your profession, and go down with satisfaction with you to 
the grave." He raised himself, and in the most animated 
language expatiated on the learning, friendship, and benevo- 
lence of his early friend; and, taking me most kindly by the 
hand, we sat down, and, with a look I shall never forget, 
he said, " I am happy to see you, Mr. Budworth;" and 
welcome indeed he made me, telling me many anecdotes of 
my relation; and, stopping in the midst of a flow of words, 
he asked me, " Are you a good singer, Sir? Your uncle 
had more melody in his voice than I ever heard ; he did not 
sing with such science as your father, whom I have often 
hearkened to when he came to see his brother; but his had 
all the sweetness of the iEolian harp." 

He then asked me why I did not call upon him when the 
regiment I was in marched through Worcestershire on their 
way to Manchester to be reduced ; that he had observed my 
name amongst the officers, and supposed me to be. a relation 
to his earliest friend. I told him that, being acting Adju- 
tant to the division I marched in, and the men being made 
too much of through every town we halted at, my presence 



BISHOP HURD. 



149 



and activity were necessary; or I fully intended doing my- 
self the honour, the day we halted at Kidderminster, of pay- 
ing to him my utmost considerations. " Your reasons, 
young soldier, make you the more welcome." 

As my visit was not built upon design, I felt myself as 
much a guest as if amongst my brother officers, and gave 
range to every question he asked me about the Old Rock, 
with the unadulterated warmth of an animated partaker of 
everything that had gone forward; he pointed to a mark on 
my temple, and said, " I suppose you got that wound there." 
I told him, " It was amongst the first received; and that it 
was still a heavy affliction, and I feared ever would." " I 
am concerned to hear so ; but it will be of service in your 
claim. Recollect the temple is the seat of honour, both in 
mind and action. I replied, " I was then on my way to 
London, to endeavour to get upon full pay again; but that 
my hopes were few." He said, "A Gibraltar officer ought 
to have more than hope to trust to." " I take the liberty, my 
Lord, of repeating some rude lines I saw chalked upon a 
sentry-box on Europa Guard: 

God and a Soldier all people adore 

In time of war, but not before : 

And when war is over, and all things are righted, 

God is neglected, and an Old Soldier is slighted. 

His Lordship remarked, " It is to be feared there is some 
truth in it, and probably the lines were written by some 
soldier that had received a better education ; for, though the 
verse is lame, there is mind in it." I observed, " The 
officers and men are necessarily so mixed on some of the 
guards, a certain freedom amongst themselves in point of 
conversation is unavoidable; and I have often witnessed 
in the strange jumble some noble sentiments and good 
military remarks." I begged to intrude a short lively 



150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



piece of wit. " Being on guard in the mines in Landport 
ditch, when the enemy were firing briskly, two shells fell 
into it. The men were warned to guard against the burst- 
ing of them, but they happened both to be blind shells (so 
called when fusees do not take effect). An old soldier in- 
stantly said, ' That verifies Scripture, When the blind lead 
the blind, they both fall into the ditch.' " " What a spirit," 
said his Lordship, " must that man have had, to have been 
so ready in the midst of danger !" I said, " Danger was so 
habitual, it gave a spur to genius; and I had often seen the 
soldier on guard over his Bible; and that I remembered a 
straggling shot striking a light-infantry man of the 58th 
across his belly, and, being too severely wounded to be re- 
moved, he desired his comrade would pray by him ; which was 
religiously performed, the whole guard kneeling around the 
sufferer until he died." " That was true religion," said his 
Lordship, " and Sterne was right in saying, a man could do 
his duty as well in a red as a black coat ; but he was wrong 
in his inferences." 

In conversation to this effect, the moments Hew away ; and 
he invited me to pass some time at Hartlebury on my return 
from the North. He walked me from the gallery into the 
park ; and, observing two old women picking sticks from under 
the trees he said, "We had some strong wind lately; and, 
indeed, if it were not for thinking of mariners, I should like 
a storm occasionally, as it gives the poor an opportunity of 
picking up the scattered wood ; and coal is scarce here." 
He edged towards them, and said, " he was glad to see them 
so well loaded." They dropt curtseys with looks without 
fear ; went on " picking dry sticks," not " mumbling to them- 
selves," but as placidly as mortals under the protection of 
Heaven. I silently blessed him in my heart, and was 
visibly affected by the divine lesson immediately before me. 

A friend of Mr. Budworth's was coming to dine with him, 
a Dr. Johnson. I asked if it was Samuel Johnson (then 



BISHOP HURD. 



151 



living). " No, not lie, although he was an ancient acquaint- 
ance (and I think he said schoolfellow) of your uncle, but 
a Dr. Johnson of Kidderminster;" to whom I received an 
animated introduction. At and after dinner he opened the 
stores of his rich mind, unbending himself to ask questions 
of me. Amongst them he said, u Pray tell me how divine 
service was performed during the siege; and how many 
chaplains you had.-" I told him that there was only one, 
and he was a deputy to the chaplain of a Scotch regiment, 
the 73rd; that he did duty at seven in the morning to 
the English regiments according to the Established Church, 
and afterwards to the 73rd regiment after the Church 
of Scotland, to which he belonged; and that both services 
were performed off the drum -head. "Ah!" instantly re- 
plied his lordship, " that reminds me of my friend Hudibras; 

When pulpit, drum ecclesiastic, 
Was beat with fist instead of a stick. 

Had he been a soldier he could not have asked more 
questions relative to the garrison; of which having some 
minute and compressed details about me, I presented them 
to him ; which he received with kindness, and I observed he 
took them as a second proof of the respect my unusual visit 
had impressed him with ; for he immediately asked if I could 
remain some days ; and on my informing him that I must 
return to Birmingham, whence I had rode over to pay my 
respects, he made me promise, that at some future period I 
would make Hartlebury in my progress. His chaplain 
attended me to my horse, and urged me to recollect the 
Bishop's invitation. I passed a few most pleasant and 
interesting hours, and have often since enjoyed them in 
reflection. This was in November 1783; and in February 
following I embarked for India, after writing a letter of 
thanks for my reception * 

* Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. pp. 337-340. 



152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



BISHOP HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

London, May 31, 1784. 

The physician * whose tragical exit you mention 

seems to have been tutored by Mr. Hume. By the way, 
this system of suicide is just now well exposed by the Dean 
of Canterbury f in a little volume called " Letters on Infi- 
delity." I think they would amuse you on your Visitation. 

I am just now turning over (for either Nichols or Cadell 
has sent it to me, unasked,) the new volume of the Bio- 
graphia by Kippis and others. It is full of the nonsense 
and impertinence of those people. One instance of the 
latter virtue, so predominant in all they write, be the subject 
what it may, struck me on opening the book, among the 
Addenda of the second volume: it is, in publishing the 
letter the editor has drawn from you on the subject of 
Brown.J But so they constantly use those who have any 
commerce with them. 



Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 18, 1784. 

My dear Sir, — It is I know not how long (for you 
forgot to date your letter) since I had your last kind favour 
from Winchester. 

I cannot help thinking you too severe on the facetious 
dean. His wit may not be of the best kind ; but it seems 
to me good in its kind, and not unlike Dr. Echard's, which 
has many admirers. I think, too, there is good sense in 

* "Saturday, 24 April, (1784,) died suddenly, Dr. Staker, an 
eminent physician of this city." (Bath Chronicle.) 

f George Horne, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Norwich. 

. + . A very long memoir of Dr. John Brown (whose suicide has been 
already mentioned in p. 99) was given in the Biographia Britannica, 
vr i. ii. pp. 653 — 674 ; the addenda to which Bishop Hurd refers are 
prefixed to the third volume. 



BISHOP HURD. 



153 



many of his observations, especially on suicide. His answers 
to scriptural objections are not always satisfactory, perhaps, 
but they are such as others have given. 

I know not whether you have seen Mr. Travis's book,* 
or Dr. Horsley's Letters. f I think them both excellent, 
and hope the authors of them will be distinguished. 

But I come now to what I have most at heart, the 
printing of your own Tracts, in which you tell me you are 
now employed. If you observe any passages which want 
qualifying or altering, as some may through a change of 
sentiment, you will know how to do this without any diffi- 
culty. You are not used to reason on wrong principles, 
and your discretion may be trusted not to express these in 
an exceptionable manner. It is to be lamented that the 
school of Clarke and Locke has not always been so cautious. 
Indeed those great writers did not, perhaps could not, 
foresee the licence of our times. 

The Bishop of Oxford % has been here, and spent some 
days with me. He was very well and cheerful, and you 
may be sure we did not forget you over our cups. After he 
left me, I had also a visit from the Bishop of Gloucester. § 
These good prelates are as civil to me as if it were in my 
power to do them any service, which they know it is not. 

So disinterested is their friendship Always, my 

dear Sir, your faithful and affectionate servant, 

K. Worcester. 

* Letter to Edward Gibbon, Esq., on his History of the Decline 
and Fall of the Roman Empire, in defence of the authenticity of the 
7th verse of the 6th chapter of the First Epistle of St. John. By 
George Travis, M.A., Prebendary of Chester, 1784, 4to. There 
was a third and enlarged edition published in 1794. 

t Letters from the Archdeacon of St. Alban's, [afterwards Fkhop 
Horsley,] in reply to Dr. Priestley, 1784, 8vo. 

J John Butler, translated to Hereford 1788, died 1802. 

§ Dr. Hallifax (see p. 113). 



154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



The Palace at Worcester, Oct. 19, 1784. 
I had paid my visit to Prior Park before I received your 
letter. I found them * very well, and, in appearance, very 
happy. 

I could not help smiling at your grave comment on the 
books of Travis and Horsley. It is a fancy that has grown 
up with you from your early days that nothing should be 
published but what is new, or at least better said than it 
had been before. Nothing can be more mistaken than this 
notion. There is a necessity every day to inculcate old 
truths, though it be in a worse manner. The people, that 
is all the world, except about half-a-dozen scholars, know 
nothing of what has been said or written by others; and, I 
believe, what has brought Church and State into their pre- 
sent condition is, that old and new nonsense has been per- 
petually obtruded on the public, while the few of better 
sense and principles have not condescended to expose the 
broachers of it, because able men had said long since what 
was proper on the subjects of Religion and Government. 
You now see why I wish Travis and Horsley to be distin- 
guished. 

I am glad to hear that the press swells at Winchester. 
The Essay on Redemption f may be sent to me in town, 
where I shall probably be some time before Christmas, in 
order to look after the impression of the Bishop's J books ; 
but what I am most delighted with is, that your own book § 
will be ready at that time. As to your kind intention of offer- 
ing it to me, assure yourself that nothing can be more flatter- 
ing and agreeable to me than to have our friendship recorded 
by yourself in any way you like best, whether by inscrip- 
tion, if that be not too formal, or by what classic elegance 

* Mr. and Mrs. Stafford Smith; see p. 143. 

t See p. 165. + Bishop Warburton. 

§ His Discourses and Charges, published in 1785. 



BISHOP HUKD. 



155 



was most pleased with, a simple familiar letter. Eank and 
place, my dear Sir, make no difference, at least create no 
distance, between real friends. So this work of your affec- 
tion cannot but be highly pleasing to me in any form you 
may think fit to give it, and I seem to have some little title 
to this distinction, because perhaps my importunity has 
made you an author. 

Adieu, my dear Sir, and believe me always your faithful 
and truly affectionate servant, R. Worcester. 

Hartlebury Castle, Nov. 27, 1784. 
Dear Sir, — I have your kind letter, and only write 
now to tell you what has occurred to me since I wrote last. 
What if you dedicated to the King ? There is no doubt of 
its being well taken. It would come with propriety after 
being so much obliged by his Majesty, and with dignity to 
yourself, as the offer made you was declined. The dedica- 
tion may be short, only expressive of your duty and per- 
sonal obligation.* The civility to me would be just the 
same from your kind intention. Pray think of this, and 
let me hear from you directly. I propose being in town by 
the 17th of December: you must not publish till after 
Christmas; at all events a present must be prepared and 
made to the King before you publish. I write this in haste 
to save to-day's post, and am always yours, &c. 

R. Worcester. 

Jan. 28th, (1785 ?). 
I should like the Fourth Discourse better as a political 
essay on the Restoration than as a thanksgiving sermon, of 
which it has not very much the air. Under this last idea you 
might have said more on the restoration of the Church and 
Monarchy, and you probably would have said it if your ser- 
mon had not been designed for Winchester. However, as 

* This advice was implicitly followed. 



156 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



I know of no partialities towards the restored family, or to 
the politics of that time, the discourse may stand very well, 
only your printer blunders everywhere. 

I dine at home to-morrow, and wish you and Mr. Webster 
would dine with me. 

Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 3, 1785. 

.... The Bishop of Bangor's * Charge is like himself, 
plain, honest, and useful. He gives his clergy good advice, 
if not much information. 

I am much pleased with Mr. Ludlam's book,f though 
the writer he confutes was scarce worth his notice. There 
is much good sense in his observations, and a modesty, or 
rather piety, which is edifying. For the rest, I have done 
with all theories on this subject; as somebody says, the well 
is too deep, and the line of our reason too short to sound it. 

I know nothing of Paley's book, J and shall never read 
anything more on that subject unless it come from you; and 
I will still hope that you may be induced to revise some of 
your papers. It is not for any man at this time of day to 
compose a system of morals; but particular parts in your 
hands would be very useful and instructive 

Under the year 1786 the Bishop's memoranda 
of occurrences in his life present the following 
entry : — 

" His Majesty was pleased this year to bestow 

* Dr. John Warren. He died in 1 800. 

f Essays on Scripture Metaphors, Divine Justice, Divine Mercy, 
and the Doctrine of Satisfaction. See Monthly Review, vol. lxxiv. 
p. 15, and Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 641. 

I Evidently his " Moral Philosophy." 



BISHOP HTJPvD. 



157 



a Prebend of Worcester on my Chaplain, Mr. Kil- 
vert." 

And in a letter to Dr. Balguy dated July the 
same year he says ; " You have heard of the King's 
favonr to me and Mr. Kilvert. It makes ns both 
very happy." 

This mention affords a suitable occasion for a 
short tribute to the memory of an excellent person, 
closely connected, both by relationship and offi- 
cially, with Bishop Hurd. 

Richard Kilvert was born in 1756, at Con- 
dover near Shrewsbury, where his father Thomas 
Kilvert, a reputable yeoman, and first cousin to 
the Bishop, held the office of steward to the Owen 
family of that place. He was educated at Shrews- 
bury school, and in 1772 matriculated at Em- 
manuel College, Cambridge, B.A. 1777, Fellow of 
his college 1779, M.A. 1780. He was domestic 
chaplain to Bishop Hurd ; Prebendary of Wor- 
cester 1786 ; Rector of Hartlebury 180L 

He was a man of real but unobtrusive piety, of 
high moral worth, and great benevolence of heart. 
These solid qualities, aided by modest and retiring 
manners, extensive acquirements, and correct taste, 
— set off by a vein of coy humour peculiarly his 
own — and refined by intercourse with the best 
society, obtained him universal respect and affec- 
tion. In character and manners he much re- 
sembled his patron and friend. Like him, he 
shrunk from indiscriminate association with the 
world : like him, he cultivated literature, not as 



158 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



a means of advancement or profit, but for its own 
sake, and for the great ends of mental and moral 
improvement : like him, he was a constant reader ; 
and the Holy Scriptures, and classical authors, 
which had been the study of both from their 
youth, formed the delight and solace of their de- 
clining years. In one point they differed — that 
Mr. Kilvert's varied stores of information ex- 
pired with him, having never been communicated 
to the world. He died in 1817. 

The following notices of Bishop Hurd in the 
Diary of Madame D'Arblay (then Miss Burney, 
and Dresser to the Queen,) derive a peculiar value 
from the known tact and discrimination of cha- 
racter possessed by that excellent woman and dis- 
tinguished novelist. 

Windsor Castle, Dec. 23, 1786. — In the morning of this 
day the Bishop of Worcester, Dr. Hurd, arrived at the Lodge 
to spend the Windsor week. I was told that he had always 
dined with Mrs. Sehwellenberg and Mrs. Haggerdorn upon 
these visits, which, it seems, he has made annually at 
Christmas for some years. As I had not any acquaintance 
with him, I had neither spirits nor pretensions to the honour 
of receiving him. His character and his works would have 
made me think it a good fortune to have met with him on 
any other terms but those of presiding at a table ; and to avoid 
that I took as much pains as any one else, thinking equally 
well of him, would have taken to obtain it. I mentioned 
to the Equerries my respectful disinclination to the encounter, 
and begged that they would immediately invite him to their 



/ 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



159 



table upon his arrival. To this they gladly assented, as he 
was well known and highly regarded by them all, and they 
had always thought it an infringement of their rights that 
he had hitherto belonged to the female table. . . . 

At tea-time, when I returned to the eating-parlour, I found 
General Bude and Colonel Goldsworthy, and they told me 
the Bishop had desired them to introduce him to me, and 
was just coming to my room, when the King sent for him. 
1 was glad to find by this civility he had taken in good part 
my relinquishing him to the Equerries. 

At the same moment that they left me to go to the con- 
cert-room, Mr. Smelt found his way back. He came, he 
said, to beg a little tea with me ; and we were beginning a 
conversation that was reviving to my spirits, wlien General 
Bude opened the door, and, announcing the Bishop of Wor- 
cester, ushered him in, and returned to the concert-room. 
His appearance and air are dignified, placid, grave, and 
mild, but cold and rather distancing. He is extremely well- 
bred, nevertheless, and his half-hour's visit passed off with- 
out effort or constraint. I was indebted indeed, for all its 
disagree ability to the presence of Mr. Smelt. . . . 

Christmas Day. — The prayers at the Chapel Royal were 
ended with a sermon by the Bishop of Worcester, after 
which everybody left the chapel except the royal family, of 
whom the King, Queen, Princess Royal, and Princess Au- 
gusta remained to take the Sacrament. . . . 

The sermon of the Bishop was excellent; — plain, simple, 
devout, instructive ; written manifestly for royal ears, yet 
carefully and without disguise levelling them on this holv 
occasion with other creatures of the dust, alike and throuo-h- 
out the world dependent, frail, and unimportant. . . . 

The Queen sent for the Bishop and ordered him tea in 
the concert-room, that he might be nearer at hand. He is, 
and justly, most high in her favour. In town she has his 
picture in her bed-room, and its companion is Mrs. Delany. 



160 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



How worthily paired ! What honour to herself such honours 
to them ! There is no other portrait there but of royal 
houses. . . . 

The next day the Bishop came again to my tea-table, 
where he found Mr. and Mrs. Smelt, and a very desirable 
discourse was beginning, when the Queen sent for him. She 
is very right, for how seldom can she enjoy conversation so 
worthy of her from those whose rank and station enable her 
to call for them thus publicly. . . 

The evening was not concluded, for the Bishop returned, 
accompanied by Mr. Smelt. 

" Her Majesty, Ma'am," said he, with a tone and look 
extremely pleasing, "has been so gracious as to order me 
tea, which I have drunk, but I was determined still not to 
be disappointed of having some with Miss Burney." 

Mr. Smelt spoke of the Christmas-day sermon, and gave 
it delicately, yet pointedly, its due praise. I could not take 
that liberty except by small, little assents. The Bishop with 
a very expressive smile, turning towards me, said, " Mrs. 
Delany has been making a request to have a copy of the 
sermon to read ; so I told her it would not do for her — it 
was a mere plain, simple sermon made for the King and 
Queen, but it would not do for a bel-esprit." 

No further summons arriving to hasten them, the Bishop 
with Mr. and Mrs. Smelt stayed rather late, and the quietness 
with the solidity of the conversation, joined to my real 
reverence of the Bishop's piety, made this evening more 
tranquil and less strained than any I had passed for a long 
while. 

Dec. 28. —This morning I met the Bishop of Worcester 
at Mrs. Delany's; he was very serious, unusually so, but 
Mrs. D. was cheerful. He soon left us, and she then 
told me she had been ill in the night, and had been led to 
desire some very solemn conversation with the good Bishop, 
who is her friend of many years' standing, and was equally 



BISHOP HURD. 



161 



intimate with her lost darling the Duchess of Portland .... 
. . she had been discoursing on the end of all things with 

the Bishop her mind was relieved and her spirit 

cheered by the conference ... he had spoken peace to her 
fears, and joy to her best hopes. 

Jan. 2, 1787. — The Bishop of Worcester made me a visit 
this morning whilst I was at breakfast, but damped the 
pleasure I received from his company by telling me he 
came to take leave, as he returned to town at noon. There 
is no chance of his again visiting Windsor till this time 
twelvemonth, and I felt very sorry to lose sight of him for 
such a length of time. Piety and goodness are so markad 
on his countenance, which is truly a fine one, that he has 
been named, and very justly, " The Beauty of Holiness." 
Indeed, in face, manner, demeanour, and conversation, 
he seems precisely what a Bishop should be, and what would 
make a looker-on, were he not a Bishop, and a see vacant, 
call out, "Take Dr. Hurd ! that is the man." (Diary of 
Madame D'Arblay, vol. iii.) 

BISHOP HURD TO THE REV. DR. BALGUY. 

No date. 

My dear Sir, — I return your Charge with many thanks, 
after taking a copy of it, which I know you allow me to do. 
It is an extremely good one. You did right not to vindi- 
dicate the Test, especially the sacramental test, directly, for 
the reason you mention. But you do it indirectly; for an 
Establishment without a test is nugatory. Utility is certainly 
the proper ground of Establishments. But, would the 
magistrate every where grant a toleration, I see no hurt, but 
possibly some good to religion, in his establishing that 
which he takes to be true. He might mistake, no doubt, 
but would have the credit of acting upon principle, which 

M 



162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



makes the magistrate respectable in trie eyes of the people, 
and prevents the suspicion of his regarding religion as a 
mere engine of state, Whence religion itself does and must 
suffer 

TO THE SAME. 

Hartlebury Castle, Sept. 13, 1787. 
My dear Sir, — I thank you for your kind letter; but by 
the magistrate, I meant the supreme power in the State, 
which, with us, extends much further than the prince. 
Still, this explanation does not remove your difficulty ; — for 
it must be unsafe for any power to prefer its own religion to 
that of a great majority, even with toleration. This I see: 
on the other hand, it is harsh to say, that a conscientious 
magistrate, in whatever sense of that word, should establish 
a religion opposite to and inconsistent with his own (a 
Christian magistrate, suppose, Pagan) if he himself be ex- 
pected to conform to it, and without conformity there must 
always be danger, because the majority, for whose sake the 
Establishment is made, will not otherwise be satisfied. 

Even in the case of Henri Quatre; one feels the hard- 
ship, and the iniquity. What then is to be done? One of 
these two things — the magistrate must either prefer his 
own religion, and risk the consequence, as James the 
Second did; or he must consult his safety and the public 
peace, when at the same time he prostitutes religion, and 
violates his conscience, as Henri Quatre did. This is the 
dilemma. How am I to escape from it? 

I am really pleased with Holmes's book* The Bishop of 

* " On the Principle of Redemption, whether Premial or Penal." 
Written by Robert Holmes, M.A., afterwards D.D. and Dean of 
Winchester. 



BISHOP IirKD. 



163 



Oxford sent it to me. I told the Bishop that you were far 
from being attached to your father's scheme, and that I was 
sure you would read the book with candour; this I said 
because I thought it not unlikely that he might shew my 
letter to Mr. Holmes, who seems to be his friend. But you 
have done well to write to him yourself. The author in his 
manner of writing is a follower of Bishop Butler, though 
not passibus cequis. I lay no stress on that manner, which 
is conciliating indeed, but may conceal as much bigotry and 
opiniatrete as is expressed in the dogmatic form. But I 
take him to be a sensible, reflecting man, and what I par- 
ticularly like in him is the regard he pays to the authority 
of Revelation; which after all must decide in all contro- 
versies between Christians, the only point being, which 
interpretation of the text is the more probable. And I con- 
fess from the impression which the tenor of Scripture leaves 
upon me I incline to his idea of Redemption. At the same 
time, I may not be able to answer all objections. 

I agree with you, the two reforming projects now in agi- 
tation must be watched with care. As the former is now 
managed hi most places (tor the London Committee will 
come to nothing,) it may do some good, and can hardly do 
much mischief. The patron of the other scheme called 
upon me, as I guess he has done the other bishops. He is 
warm and heady: all I could do was to persuade him to 
take time, and to let the matter rest till it should be seen 
what effect the general zeal of the magistrates to enforce 
the laws had produced. I know not whether he will follow 
my advice. 



M '2 



164 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



DR. BALGUY TO THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER, 

Winton, 17 Oct. 1787. 

My dear Lord, — Your last letter gave me a singular 
pleasure, for it is not only written with your usual kindness, 
but with the appearance of good health and spirits. 

If the province of the magistrate be not confined to the 
temporal interests of his subjects, but extend also to the 
salvation of their souls, I see not how he can escape from 
your Lordship^s dilemma; but, if this principle be rejected, 
there will be no other difficulty than what may arise from 
his personal conformity. This in the case of Henri Quatre 
was great indeed ; but the reign of James the Second might 
have been easy and prosperous if he had thought fit to abide 
by his own declaration; and in later times there have been 
frequent instances in which the religion of the sovereign 
has differed from that of his people without any material 
inconvenience. I am sure your Lordship will admit that a 
good prince, attached by principle as well as policy to the 
Church of England, may yet support the Calvinist religion 
in Scotland, the Lutheran at Hanover, and the Popish at 
Quebec. May we not advance one step further? I own I 
am not for introducing what I should think a new mode of 
oppression in Bengal, by compelling the poor Indians to 
maintain a Christian Priesthood. I cannot indeed conceive 
that a civil governor has anything to do with the religion 
of his people more than to apply it to the service of the 
State; but he has the same right which they have to choose 
his own religion, and is as much obliged as the meanest of 
his subjects to profess steadily and openly what he believes 
to be true. Reasons of state policy will never, surely, justify 
a Christian magistrate in violating so sacred an obligation. 
I suppose it makes no difference in any inquiry of this kind 



BISHOP HUKD. 



165 



whether the supreme power (of which only your Lordship 
seems to speak) be in one person or many, only in a free 
government the difficulty will seldom occur, for the senti- 
ments of the legislature will seldom differ materially from 
those of the nation. 

If writing were less troublesome to me I would not have 
sent my thoughts to your Lordship in so slovenly a form, 
but have transcribed and corrected what I have written ; but 
you are so used to my careless way of setting down what 
occurs to me that I am sure you will allow me to proceed 
without further ceremony to Mr. Holmes's Tracts, which 
are apparently written with so good an intention that your 
Lordship could not but be inclined to think favourably of 
them. I had assured the author that I had no hereditary 
prejudices which could prevent me from reaping the full 
benefit of his inquiries ; and I am obliged to your Lordship 
for doing me justice on this head in your letter to the 
Bishop of Oxford: I am not indeed attached to my father's 
scheme,* nor indeed to any other It appears to me unques- 
tionable that the death of Christ is the appointed means of 
our redemption ; but the reasons of this appointment may pro- 
bably lie too deep for our comprehension. To suppose that 
we know them all would be presumption, and we can know 
none of them unless from the declarations of Scripture, 
which, as I think, has not very explicitly declared them. 
I am the more confirmed in this way of thinking by ob- 
serving that it agrees nearly with your Lordship's. 

Something more I had meant to say, but a dark cloud 
has intervened, and made it impossible for me to see any 
longer. I shall only wish you the entire re-establishment 

* His father was John Balguy, master of the grammar-school at 
Sheffield, and afterwards Vicar of Northallerton. He was the author 
of " An Essay on Redemption," which was republished by the Arch- 
deacon, with an introductory discourse, in 1785. 



166 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



of your health, and a good journey to town, where, I sup- 
pose, you are likely to be soon wanted. 

I am, my dear Lord, your Lordship's most faithful and 
affectionate humble servant, Thos. Balguy. 

BISHOP HURD TO REV. DR. BALGUY. 

Hartlebury Castle, Nov. 9, 1787. 

My dear Sir, — I will wrangle with you no longer. 
I am of your mind as to the ground of Establishments, but 
it hurts me to think the magistrate must play the knave or 
risk his authority; for, after all, that many-headed beast 
the people will not be satisfied, nor their governors be 
secure, without an outward conformity to their fancies, 
right or wrong. Still, anything is better than no Establish- 
ment, as the American states will one day find. Don't be 
too much concerned for the possible oppression in Bengal, 
for if only such an establishment of a Christian priesthood 
were made as should supply the needs of the real Christians 
in that quarter, the Indians will have very little to fear. 

I agree with you that the blood, or, as you express it, 
the death of Christ, is the appointed means of our redemp- 
tion; of the reason of that appointment I am not anxious 
to inquire, but I think a solicitude to investigate the reasons 
inclines many to reject the means 

Kidderminster, July 7, 1788. 
My dear Sir, — I return the inclosed with many thanks. 
You speak much too slightly of it. It is full of good sense 
and truth, and, with your leave, is written in sufficient 
method. Bishop Warburton's Works are not printed so ac- 
curately as I could wish, yet not so very carelessly as is pre- 
tended. The paper may not be quite so white as the His- 
torian's ; yet some in your neighbourhood may have seen it 



BISHOP HCRD. 



167 



through yellow spectacles. Whatever the faults, thev are 
not to be attributed to Cadell, who had nothing to do with 
the edition but to sell it. 

As to Gibbon, I have read a part of his third volume. 
Though a writer of sense, parts, and industry, I read him 
with little pleasure. His loaded and luxuriant style is dis- 
gusting to the last degree; and his work is polluted every- 
where by the most immoral as well as irreligious insinuations. 

I rejoice in hearing so good on account of your health. 
Take care to preserve it for the sake of your friends, and par- 
ticularly of your most affectionate, E. WORCESTER 

In the summer of the year 1788 the quiet 
routine of the Bishop's life received an agreeable 
interruption. On the 2nd of August the King and 
Queen, then sojourning at Cheltenham, paid him 
a visit at Hartlebury. attended by the Duke of 
York, and the royal suite. After inspecting the 
castle, they breakfasted in the library, and gra- 
tified the loyal curiosity of the country people 
hy walking on the raised terrace in the garden, 
visible from the park. On the Tuesday fol- 
lowing, the 5th, the Eishop had the honour of 
receiving the royal party at his palace at "Wor- 
cester, previously to then attendance on the 
meeting of the three choirs of Worcester, Here- 
ford, and Gloucester, for the benefit of the widows 
and orphans of the poorer clergy of those dioceses. 
On this occasion the King was pleased to receive 
the Bishop and clergy in the great hall of the 
palace, and to return a gracious answer to the ad- 
dress presented by the Bishop, in their" name and 



168 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



his own. During the stay of their Majesties at 
the palace, they set the good example of attend- 
ing prayers in the chapel every morning, which 
were read by the Bishop. A minute and par- 
ticular account of the incidents of this visit, is 
given by the Bishop in his Dates of Occurrences, 
&c. 

BISHOP HURD TO DB. BALGUY. 

Hartlebury, Sept. 14, 1788. 

.... I should not trouble you with an answer so soon, 
but that I apprehend that you mistake my purpose in send- 
ing you Sir David's Latin letter. He himself sent it to me 
under my cover, and desired me to forward it to you at 
Winchester ; so that you see you must tell our friend your- 
self how much you approve his Latinity. This I believe 
will satisfy him, whatever becomes of the irony, at which he 
has not the best talent. 

.... You do well not to employ any body to read the 
new History to you. Besides licences of other sorts, the ob- 
scenities are such that it could not well be read to you. 

Vol. v. p. 92, n. 9, Gibbon has the impertinence to call 
Mr. Addison an English Gentleman, and to say that his 
credit, at least the credit of his Tract on the Christian Ee- 
ligion, has been owing to the interested applause of our 
clergy. 

Another visit to Windsor is thus noticed by 
Madame D'Arblay. 

; 

Queen's Lodge, Windsor. 
1789, Sunday, Mar. 15. — The King this morning renewed 
his public service at church by taking the sacrament at 
eight o'clock. All his gentlemen attended him. The 



BISHOP HTJED. 



169 



Queen, Princesses, and household went at the usual time. 
Bishop Hurd preached an excellent sermon, with one allu- 
sion to the King's recovery, delicately touched and quickly 
passed over. 

The excellent Bishop and Mr. Smelt again dined with us. 
The Bishop preferred our quiet table to the crowd now be- 
longing to that of the Equerries. We had some very good 
treatises upon society between him and Mr. Smelt. He pro- 
tested he never chose to meet more than six, and thought all 
added to that number created confusion and destroyed ele- 
gance. (Diary, vol. v. p. 11.) 

BISHOP HURD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Plartlebury Castle, July 7, 1789. 

. . . The scene of the royal amusements is at present in 
your quarter. Dr. Gisborne * attends his Majesty at Wey- 
mouth, and sends me word that he is perfectly well. 

For myself, I am pretty much as I was when I left Lon- 
don. This giddiness still persecutes me, and dispirits me so 
much that I am good for nothing. In my younger days, 
when I read Swift's letters, I thought that complaint was 
confined to wits and poets. I am now too well convinced to 
the contrary. I pay no visits, and I think shall pay none 
this summer, though I am pressed to go both to Hereford 
and Prior Park. God knows whether I shall be able to 
leave this place any more. . . 

Hartlebury, Aug. 17, 1789. 
I have seen Mr. Gisborne's book,f and I had 

* Thomas Gisborne, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, B.A. 
1747, M.A. 1751, M.D. 1758. 

f " The Principles of Moral Philosophy investigated, and briefly 
applied to the constitution of Civil Society ; together with remarks on 



170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



seen before that of Mr. Paley* But I must confess to you 
I take no satisfaction in these theories of government, 
whether formed on the principle of consent or expediency. 
The people will, everywhere, be ready enough to resist 
their governors, when they feel or fancy themselves to be 
oppressed: and it is not only officious, it is cruel, to instigate 
them to that resistance before the time comes. What is now 
passing very near us, may show that more real suffering 
may arise in a few months or weeks from the misguided 
rage of a mob in the pursuit of liberty than could be felt in 
ages from the most despotic government in Europe. Half- 
a-dozen wretched victims were found in the Bastile; and 
most of them, perhaps, the victims of their own vices and 
follies. The Bastile is destroyed: but who can count the 
number of those who are every day wretched out of it? 
After all, my dear Sir, I do not plead for despotism, but I 
think some ways of removing it are worse than the worst 
that is apprehended from it. 

You misconceive of my solitude here. Mr. Mason has 
been with me for a fortnight. He is now gone to his resi- 
dence in York. When he left me the Bishop of St. Asaph 
and Mrs. Hallifax took me in their way, or rather out of their 
way, from St. Asaph to Warsop. And soon after the Bishop 
of Bangor f and his family were so good as to call on me in 
their journey from London to Wales. So, you see, my 
friends do not neglect me in my retirement. Besides, there 
are few days when I sit down to dinner without some of my 
clergy and neighbours. From all which you may conclude 

the principles assumed by Mr. Paley as the basis of all moral con- 
clusions, and on other positions of the same author. 1789," 8vo. This 
work by the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, M. A., Curate of Burton-under- 
Needwood, reached a fourth edition in 1798. 

* " The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy," first pub- 
lished in 1785, 4to. 

f Dr. Warren. 



BISHOP HURD. 



171 



that I want no company, and may say with the old philo- 
sopher, though not in his sense, that I am never minus 
solus than when I am, in the opinion of the world, solus. 

With all this amusement I cannot boast of great spirits. 
But I bear the infirmities of indifferent health and advanc- 
ing age as well as I can, and thank God that at seventy I 
am well enough to trouble von with this lono- letter. Its 
best use will be to convey to you the assurance of that un- 
alterable friendship with which I am, dear Sir, your most 
affectionate humble servant, E. Worcester. 

Hartlebury Castle, Feb. 2, 1790. 

Your remembrance of me on the 24th* was very obliging. 

The pamphlets that have been been sent me on the Test- 
laws do not please me. Something should be said strongly 
and decisively on what the Dissenters call their right of 
eligibility to offices, and the incompleteness of Toleration 
without it. But where shall we find such a writer? 

As to the Letter to Dr. Parr,f I have read it, which is 
scarcely fair, as I never read, and never shall read, the thing 
to which the letter is an answer. The pamphlet is written 
with great spirit and vivacity, and with such a turn of 
humour, as well as glow of friendship, that only one person 
could write it. So that I wonder you did not guess at the 
author. But while I say this, I must own to you, that I 
have not the least degree of guidance ab extra to direct my 
judgment. 

Letter-writing is grown irksome to both of us ? though 
from different reasons. Yet I shall hope to receive a scrap 

* The Bishop's birthday. 

t " A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Parr, occasioned by his republication 
of Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian, 1790," 8vo. This 
pamphlet was written by the Rev. Robert Lucas, D.D., Rector of 
Ripple near Tewkesbury, who had married a niece of Bishop Hurd. 
The Bishop seems to have attributed it to his friend Mason. 



172 LIPE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 

from you now and then, to let me know how you are, and 
what amusement you find in London. Of myself I have 
nothing to say that you would hear with pleasure, except it 
be that, though my infirmities make me incapable of being 
much amused by any thing, yet such is the indolence of my 
nature, I am not thereby made unhappy. 

The allusion in the preceding letter is evidently 
to that specimen of intemperate feeling and bad 
taste, the " Tracts by Warburton and a Warbur- 
tonian, with a Preface and Notes, by Dr. Parr," 
published the preceding year; a piece in which 
exaggerated charges against Bishop Hurd on 
account of his treatment of Jortin and Leland, 
and overstrained compliments to him on his 
abilities and learning, stand in awkward juxta- 
position; and in which the effect of occasional 
splendid passages is spoiled by rancorous ill-nature 
in sentiment and pedantic mannerism in style. 

Granting that a generous, though Quixotic, 
feeling for disparaged merit might be among the 
mixed motives for this attack, it is hard to rescue 
the memory of Parr from suspicion of personal 
pique in making it. The original case was not 
one in which the weak had been assailed by the 
strong : neither was it a cowardly violation of the 
sanctities of the tomb. Jortin and Leland were 
both living, and in the full vigour of their facul- 
ties, when Bishop Hurd's pamphlets appeared; 
both also men of mark, and quite able to do 
battle for themselves. So that we are forced to 
look elsewhere for an adequate motive for this 



BISHOP HURD. 



173 



attack, and such an one is, with considerable 
probability, indicated by the Quarterly Reviewer, 
vol xxxix. p. 276 ; where it is traced to a dis- 
courtesy, intentional or otherwise, offered by the 
Bishop to Dr. Parr when the latter went to 
Hartlebury Castle for institution to the benefice 
of Hatton, in receiving him coldly and offering 
him no refreshment. * 

The Bishop's conduct in this instance, if not an 
oversight, lies fairly open to debate. On the one 
hand it may be said that it was at the very least 
an inexcusable omission to receive a man of Parr's 
high moral character and eminence in literature, 
a member too of the same university and even 
college, with stinted courtesy and hospitality. 
On the other, it may be replied, that at that time 
political animosities were at their height ; and 
that Parr had embraced with open arms both the 
politics and the persons of those who had ranged 
themselves in violent opposition to a Court from 
w r hich Bishop Hurd had received not only his 
public appointments, but the highest marks of 
personal favour and esteem. Thus circumstanced, 
it may be thought not unnatural or inexcusable 
that the Bishop should have chosen to mark his 
disapproval of Dr. Parr's political views and 
associations by giving him a cold reception. 

Parr's enmity to Bishop Hurd is ascribed by Dr. 
Watkins, in his Life of the Duke of York, p. 39, 

* See Life of Purr, vol. i. p. 307. 



174 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



(though, he does not state his authority,) to spleen 
and disappointment at his rejection by the Bishop 
when he applied for the office of sub-preceptor to 
the Princes, which was given to Dr. Arnald. 

Whichever of these causes may have been the 
real one, (and both, indeed, may have concurred,) 
it seems an aggravation of Parr's offence in the 
republication of the Tracts, — the first of which 
originally appeared at a distance of thirty-four 
and the second of twenty-five years before, — 
that the Bishop was this time in his seventieth 
year, in infirm health, and in a great degree re- 
tired from the world.* Had this not been the 
case, there can be little doubt that Parr's posi- 
tion would have illustrated Solomon's comparison 
of the man who " meddles with strife that does 
not belong to him." Prov. xxv. 17. 

In a note to the Tracts, p. 156, there is a charge 
alleged against Hurd, not on Parr's own authority, 
but on that of some anonymous Greek scholar of 
the first eminence, " of clipping and filing, soften- 
ing and varnishing," the constitutional doctrines 
of his " Moral and Political Dialogues," so as 
to accommodate them to his relations with the 
Court. This charge was repeated by Parr upon 
his own authority (Bibliotheca Parriana, p. 439). 

In reply to this, the Editor can state, both from 

* On a recent visit to Hartlebury Castle, the pictures of these two 
eminent persons, in peaceful juxta-position on the walls of the library, 
suggested to the mind of the Editor some serious reflections on the 
vanity of literary animosities. 



BISHOP EXBD. 



175 



his own examination, and upon the authority 
of an eminent hying character, thoroughly con- 
yersant with the Bishop's works, that, though 
there are frequent alterations and omissions in 
the progressive editions, there are none which 
affect the constitutional principles delivered in 
the first edition. The alterations are chiefly those 
of style, etc. The omissions are only (as has 
been already observed) of an ironical Preface, and 
some cleyer Notes of the same character, which 
were necessarily expunged when the Bishop laid 
aside his mask and appeared in propria persona. 

The only point which seems to give colour to 
the charge is, that a P. S. to the first edition of 
the Dialogues on the Constitution of the English 
Groyermnent, in which the author animadverts at 
some length upon Hume's Defence of the Stuarts, 
is in the subsequent editions reduced in length 
and thrown into the form of a note, softened in- 
deed in tone towards Mr. Hume personally, but 
without any change in the sentiments expressed. 

Mr. Green, so often before quoted, says on this 
subject : 

Parr's imputation on Hurd, given on the authority of a 
friend, who by the description must be Parson, " that he 
had softened the aspect of certain uncourtly opinions in the 
different successive editions of these Dialogues/' I can affirm 
from a minute collation to be untrue. Alterations have 
indeed been made; but they are chiefly such either as were 
necessary when the writer exchanged the character of Editor 
for that of Author, or which evince his good taste and dis- 



176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



cernment in removing the blemishes of first composition. 
Those which respect the strictures on Hume's History are 
the most material and the most curious. (Diary, p. 71.) 

BISHOP HUHD TO DR. BALGUY. 

Hartlebury Castle, March 7, 1790. 

This check of the Dissenters is very seasonable. I 

wish the people at large could be made sensible of their 
present happiness, and of the danger of innovating in Church 
or State. If anything can do this, it is the confusion of 
things abroad. I perceive the Parliament is wise enough 
to take alarm at it 

Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 3, 1790. 

I had an obliging letter from Dr. War ton, who 

promises to send the volume of Milton to my house in town. 
I have pressed him by all means to finish the edition of the 
Minor Poems which his brother had begun.* 

Hartlebury Castle, Nov. 6, 1790. 

When the King was at Worcester in '88, he was 

so gracious as to promise me a picture of himself, and 
another of the Queen, to be put up in the Palace there. 
These pictures are arrived, and very noble ones they are. 
They are hung up in the great drawing-room above stairs, 
one on each side the fireplace. Over the fireplace and be- 
tween the pictures there is a vacant space, where I propose 
to fix an oval tablet of white marble, and upon it to have 
an inscription in gold letters, somewhat like that of which 
I inclose you a copy. You must criticise it severely, and 
tell me your minutest objections to it: I mean if the 

* This edition appeared in 1791. In it the Editor acknowledges 
some valuable contributions by Bishop Hurd, which are marked H. 



BISHOP HURD. 



177 



general idea seern passable to you. Otherwise the whole 
shall be suppressed, or you must suggest to me another. 
The sooner I know your sentiments the better 

Hospes, 
Quas intueris imagines 
Augustoruni Principum 
Georgii III. et Reginas Charlottse, 
D.D. 
Rex dilectissimus 
Richardo Episcopo Vigorniensi 
1790. 

Hartlebury Castle, April 30, 1790. 

I have seen the Considerations ; * there is no 

doubt of the author. He has a great deal of vague and 
solemn prate, but no wise man will call for a revisal of our 
Ecclesiastical System with a view to improve it at this time, 
or indeed at any time, unless we had another Cranmer, and 
with all his authority, to take the lead in it. 

The inclosed advertisement appeared in my paper of to- 
day. If you read it, as perhaps you may, (for I never shall,) 
you will tell me what it aims at. 

Hartlebury Castle, March 3, 1791. 
..... It is almost too late to say anything about Mr. 
Burke's book; but I must own the sense and drift of it 
pleases me very much. The manner indeed is too florid. 
I should guess from the rapid and extensive sale of this 
work that the Dissenters will not very soon renew their 
attack on the Establishment. 

* " Considerations on the approaching Dissolution of Parliament, 
addressed to the Elective Body of the People, with some account of 
the existing Parties, &c. By the Author of the 'Letter to a Country 
Gentleman,' and 'Royal Interview,"' &c. See Monthly Review, 
1790, ii. 236. 

N 



178 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



You judged right as to Regince in my Latin inscription. 
It is altered to Conjugis with the approbation of Lord 
Hailes, whose opinion I asked. The whole, as reformed 
by him, now stands thus: 

Hospes, 
Imagines quas contemplaris 
Augustorum Principum 
Georgii III. et Charlottae Conjugis 
Rex ipse 
Richardo Episcopo Vigorniensi 
donavit. 
1790. 

Hartlebury, June 20th, 1791. 

You mention in your last poor Mr. Towne's 

death.* He was a sensible and acute, as well as good man, 
but so little skilled in the art of composition, that I have 
heard Bishop Warburton say, when any of his pieces 
passed through his hands, he had more trouble in reforming 
the style and method of them than it would have cost him 
to write the whole afresh in his own manner. 

The Popish Bill, you see, has passed, with amendments, 
and I hope will not be attended with those mischiefs which 
many apprehended through the sudden repeal of so many 
penal statutes. 

* The Rev. John Towne, before noticed in p. 55. In his Life 
of Warburton, speaking of Mr. Towne, Bishop Hurd says : " He was 
so conversant with the Bishop's writings that he used to say of him 
he understood them better than himself. He published some defences 
of the Divine Legation, in which, with a glow of zeal for his friend, 
he showed much logical precision and acuteness." Warburton, in 
one of his letters to Bishop Hurd, speaks of him as " a reasoning 
engine, as Voltaire calls Dr. Clarke." Four Letters of Towne are 
printed in " Warburton's Literary Remains," which fully attest his 
candour, discrimination, and acquaintance with Warburton's great 
work. 



BISHOP HTTRD. 



179 



Hartlebury, Sept. 22, 179 j: 
.... Burke's writings are sucli as may be expected 
from a man long habituated to extemporary harangues in a 
popular assembly, and perhaps for that reason afford a pre- 
sumption that they are properly written to answer his end ; 
as to the multitude of words, Cicero, on the like occasion, 
would have used as many, only he would have put them 
together in a better method and in a purer style. 

While I write this the melancholy news arrives that my 
younger brother * of Birmingham is no more. I feel this 
stroke sensibly, and the more so as it was not expected. 
But human life is full of these calamities .... 

C No date. J 

I want to know who is the author of " An Apology for 
the Clergy and Church of England," in answer to the 
" Hints, f " It has just now fallen into my hands, and is 
so well written that I want to hear what you think of it, 

* See p. 3. 

f " Hints addressed to the attention of the Clergy, Nobility, and 
Gentry, newly associated. By a Layman, a Friend to the Constitution 
in Church and State." (Gentleman's Mag. 1788, p. 893.) These 
"Hints" went through several editions. The first and second are 
noticed in the Monthly Review, 1789, pp. 186, 562 ; and the fourth 
edition in the same periodical for July, 1790, where the authorship 
is attributed to a nobleman lately at the head of affairs, probably 
the Marquess of Lansdowne. 

The answer above mentioned is entitled, " Apology for the Liturgy 
and Clergy of the Church of England ; in answer to a Pamphlet 
entitled ' Hints,' &c. by a Layman. In a Letter to the Author, by a 
Clergyman. 1790." The reviewer suggests the author of this to be 
Dr. Horsley, Bishop of St. David's ; but that was contradicted by 
others. The Apology is not mentioned by Chalmers in his life of 
Horsley; but he published several anonymous pamphlets not in- 
cluded in his Works. In the same volume of the Monthly Review 
is noticed, " An Address to Bishop Horsley on the subject of An 
Apology, &c. By Gilbert Wakefield. 1790." 

N 2 



180 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



I would also know tlie writer of the Letter to Dr. Parr,* 
for the same reason. It is not Mr. Mason, as I had sup- 
posed, and yet, who else of my facetious friends could be so 
kind to me? 

When you see Mr. Montague tell him I am by no means 
satisfied with a majority of 70. Surely on such a struggle 
the Church of England cannot be fallen so low. I expect 
much greater things from its friends, now called upon 
to shew themselves, particularly from his exertions, and 
those of his friend Mr. Burke. Surely Mr. Fox is playing 
a desperate game in putting himself at the head of the Dis- 
senters. 

I have not your Sermons here, and, possibly, I may not 
understand you ; but the difference seems to me little or 
none, whether the restraint be on the magistrate or the sub- 
ject, only, as the former is a Whig idea, the argument ad 
hominem may be more persuasive. The restraint on either 
is perfectly justifiable, and on the same grounds of public 
good. 

J think your dilemma unan severable . I am glad this soft 
winter agrees with you as it does with me. I ride out 
every day, and am the better for this exercise joined to the 
quiet of this place. Hut I must not be too confident; I can 
but just rub on with these advantages — a little reading or 
business too much throws me back, and I am certain my 
head would turn 

Flnctibus in mediis, et tempestatibus urbis. 

( No date.) 

.... I can easily account for your laziness. Haud 
ignara mali— you know the rest. 

I have taken to riding for the last month, and am on the 
whole better than when you left me. My intention is to stay 



* Seep. 171. 



BISHOP HURD. 



181 



about a month longer, and then to remove to London. We 
shall meet there, I hope, as usual, about New Year's Day. 

Have you seen the Bishop of St. Asaph's Charge to the 
King, or rather his libel upon him, served up in the old 
Scotch form of a prayer? The good man thinks it brave 
to abuse his sovereign, and without doubt he will be com- 
mended by his party; but a grain of common sense (which 
indeed no coxcomb ever possessed) might have taught him 
that a little civility was all that the occasion called for or 
allowed.* 

In the year 1794 Bishop Hurcl published, " A 
Discourse by way of General Preface to the 4to 
edition of Bishop Warburton's Works, contain- 
ing some account of the Life, Character, and 
Writings of the Author." We learn from the 
advertisement to this edition, which appeared, as 
we have seen, in 1788, that the Discourse was at 
that time finished, but not then published, for rea- 
sons which the author hints at, but does not state. 
The Bishop has been blamed both for the delay 
of this Discourse, and for its alleged meagreness 
when it did appear. As regards the delay, it is 
not to be wondered at that, in the case of one 
whose strong opinions, and free expression of 
them, had given so much offence, a biographer 

* This remark would, on Bishop Hurd's part, have satisfied the 
curiosity implied in the following passage : u It seems difficult to 
conceive two characters placed in the same sphere more opposite 
than Hurd and Shipley ; and it would he pleasant to know, though 
it may be easy to guess, what sentiments these right rev. gentlemen 
entertained of each other." (Green's Diary, p. 164.) 



182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 

should suspend his memoir as long as practicable, 
in order to give time for prejudices to abate, and 
angry feelings to subside ; and, as to the compa- 
rative brevity of the sketch, it may perhaps be 
thus accounted for. The philosophic turn of 
Bishop Hurd's mind, his disposition for tracing 
effects to their causes, and his bent towards ab- 
stract reasoning, although, in connection with his 
acute penetration, they qualified him highly for 
drawing character, did not so well fit, or rather 
disqualified, him for collecting and detailing those 
isolated facts, minute anecdotes, and scattered 
traits, which go to make up the history of a life. 
In this latter point the discourse is obviously de- 
ficient ; but, though comparatively brief, it gives 
a masterly view of Bishop Warburton's character 
and writings, judicious in its sentiments and 
graceful in its composition. Dr. Whitaker, in his 
review of Bishop Hurd's edition of his friend's 
work, says of this Discourse, 6 ' he has executed his 
task in a style of elegance and purity worthy of 
an earlier and better age of English literature." 

Much odium has been cast upon the Bishop for 
his mention of Bishop Lowth in the Life of his 
friend, but apparently without sufficient reason. 
The following extract from the Bishop's Common- 
place Book seems only to express the conclusion 
at which dispassionate judges acquainted with the 
talents and writings of the parties must arrive. 
Bishop Hurd had said in his Discourse : " Dr. 
Lowth's friends affected to bring his merits into 



BISHOP HUKD. 



183 



competition with those of Warburton." In his 
Commonplace Book he adds : "But there was no 
relation of equality, or even likeness, in their 
talents to be the ground of such competition. 
Warburton had that eagle-eyed sagacity which 
pierces through all difficulties and obscurities, and 
that glow of imagination which gilds and irra- 
diates every object it touches : Lowth had the 
amiable accomplishments of a man of parts, and 
a scholar, hut in no transcendent degree in either 
character." 

Bishop Hurd had printed during his lifetime, 
and left for publication after his death, a volume 
of letters between Bishop "Warburton and himself. 
These letters, in number 257, with five of Mr. 
Charles Yorke's to Bishop Warburton appended, 
range in date from 1749 to 1776. Of this volume 
250 copies in 4to. were printed, which were dis- 
posed of to Messrs. Cadell for 400Z., and the 
amount, agreeably to the terms of the Bishop's 
will, made over to the Worcester Infirmary. A 
second edition in 8vo. appeared in 1809. These 
letters, notwithstanding the cavils of prejudiced 
critics, must he allowed fully to maintain the re- 
putation of both writers. The work is thus pre- 
faced by Bishop Hurd : 

These Letters give so true a picture of the writer's character, 
and are besides so worthy of him in all respects, (I mean 
if the reader can forgive the playfulness of his wit in many 
instances, and the partiality of his friendship in many more,) 



184 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



that, in honour of his memory, I would have them published 
after my death , and the profits arising from the sale of them 
applied to the benefit of the Worcester Infirmary. 

E. WoKCESTER. 

Jan. 18, 1793. 

Warburt oil's share of the correspondence is by 
far the largest and most interesting. It was a 
kind of composition in which, in many points, he 
excelled. Without the grace and elegance of Wal- 
pole, Gray, or Cowper, his letters display a vigour 
of intellect, a richness of fancy, a brilliancy of wit, 
and an inexhaustible fund of information and 
anecdote, which at once instruct and delight. 
He had also the rare and attractive quality of ex- 
pressing on paper his genuine sentiments about 
persons, books, and things, without fear or favour, 
softening or disguise. Like his friend Pope, 

He loved to pour out all himself, as plain 
As downright Shippen, or as old Montaigne ; 

a feature which gives a distinguished charm to his 
correspondence. 

Bishop Hurd's letters, though of inferior merit, 
(for his cool and philosophic turn of mind unfitted 
him for that lively and gossiping detail which 
forms the principal charm of letter-writing, while 
his guarded caution kept a constant check upon 
his expression,) are yet not devoid of interest. 
They are correct and elegant as compositions, 
abound in good sense, and often in judicious cri- 



BISHOP HL'RD. 



185 



ticism; are characteristic of the writer's prudence 
and discretion, and bear honourable testimony to 
his attachment to his relatives and friends. In 
particular, they shew with what dexterous ma- 
nagement he occasionally contrived to influence 
the warmer and less guarded temper of his corre- 
spondent. * 

TO DR. DRAKE. 

H. C, Mar. 20, 1796. 
.... I have lately received the present of a book called a 
Key to the Prophesies, from a Mr. Frazer, Minister of Kirk- 
hill, near Inverness. I was surprised to receive so well- 
written a book from that remote and obscure corner. If you 
ever looked into Mr. Mede's famous book, you would not be 
displeased with this; though you must imagine there is a 
great deal of fancy and conjecture in it. On the whole, how- 
ever, it deserves to be better known than, I doubt, it will be, 
which is the reason of my giving you this account of it. 

BISHOP HURD TO SIR E. LITTLETON. 

H. C, Jan. 11, 1797. 
Dear Sir Edward, — I take for granted you are by this 
time at Teddesley Park, and therefore, with my best wishes 
on the new year, I return you my thanks for your two 
notes from London about new publications. 

... I pray God to protect us from French invasions, and 
still more from French politics ! Adieu, my dear Sir. 

K. Worcester. 

* See this point strikingly illustrated in Letters cxliv. cxlv. Cor- 
respondence, &c., where the Bishop combats his friend's eagerness 
for the revival of Convocation. 



186 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



Hartlebury Castle, April 24, 1797. 

. . . You are hurried up again to Parliament in a trouble- 
some time. Pray send me some good news from Portsmouth. 
Our poor friend Mr. Mason was snatched away very sud- 
denly. A slight hurt of his leg brought on a mortification 
so rapidly, that he died in a few days.* 

H. C, May 22, 1797. 

... I thank you for recommending the pamphlet in vin- 
dication of the Admiralty. But I have no doubt that our 
governors do the best to save us. The event must depend 
on the unsearchable counsels of God. Let us humbly hope, 
however, for the best. 

H. C, May 27, 1797. 

. . . You think no better than I do of those who would 
distress the Government. I believe they will stick at 
nothing. . . 

H. C, June 19, 1797. 
. . . Their Majesties are singularly gracious to me. But 
when the Queen asked about my coming to London, you 
might have said, not that I had made a resolution against it, 
but that I was under an incapacity of moving further than 
to Worcester. And I shall hardly be able to do that often. 

Hartlebury, May 1, 1798. 
... I perceive by the account you give me of your court- 
conversation, that my friends will not be convinced that I 
am old and infirm till I am dead — an event which cannot be 
far distant. . . . 

TO THE SAME. 

H. C, March 17, 1799. 
I must acknowledge your two favours of the 27th past and 
11th instant, before you leave London. The former ac- 
* On the 5th April, 1797. 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



187 



quainted me with your safe arrival in town, and the latter 
witli your having paid your duty at Saint James's. You 
say truly, that I must have great pleasure in knowing that 
their Majesties are so good as to keep in their remembrance 
a worn-out, unprofitable servant. This confutes the old ob- 
servation on courts, and indeed on private persons, of " out 
of sight out of mind," I have reason to think myself much 
honoured by this distinction. . . . 

The weather continues very cold, and confines me, as 
usual; for, though you told his Majesty that I rode out in 
my carriage most days, the truth is, I have not done this 
more than twice or thrice for the last three months. ... 

An occasional visitor at Hartlebury Castle 
during the Bishop's latter years was Mr. William 
Parsons, his second cousin. This gentleman was 
born in 1755, and by the Bishop's influence with 
Lord Pigott appointed in early life to a Writership 
in the Honourable East India Company's service. 
Nor did the Bishop's care for his young kinsman 
rest here. He maintained a correspondence with 
him, and sent him from time to time such books 
as he judged suitable for his instruction and 
amusement. In the month of October 1782 Mr. 
Parsons underwent many hardships, and had a nar- 
row escape of his life in a mutiny of native troops 
at Vizagapatam, in the Madras Presidency; on 
which occasion a miniature rehearsal took place 
of the horrors and atrocities so lately exhibited in 
that of Bengal. Mr. Parsons, having by means of 
his Writership and commercial speculations ob- 
tained a handsome competency, left India, and 



188 



LIEE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



withdrew to Wribbenliall near Bewdley, where 
he built himself a comfortable house, and lived 
in an elegant retirement, amusing himself with 
literary and antiquarian pursuits. Prom this 
easy distance he maintained an occasional social 
intercourse with his friend and patron. The 
lesson afforded by the Bishop's thoughtful kind- 
ness to himself had not been lest upon him ; for 
one of his favourite engagements was keeping up 
an instructive correspondence with his younger 
friends and relatives, to their great advantage, 
profiting them at once by the wisdom of his ad- 
vice, and by the simple elegance of his epistolary 
style. He died, generally beloved and regretted, in 
1816, aged 61. 

In his " Dates of Occurrences," &c, the Bishop 
thus recorded his birth-dav of 1799 : 

By God's great mercy enter this day, Jan 24, 1799, into 
my 80th year. Ps. xc. 10. But see 1 Cor. xv. 22. Rom. 
viii. 18. 1 Pet. i. 3 — 5. " Thanks be to God for his un- 
speakable gift." 2 Cor. ix. 15. 

In contemplation of the threatened invasion of 
England by Buonaparte in the year 1803, it appears 
that Bishop Hurd had placed one or both of his 
episcopal residences at the King's disposal, as 
affording a suitable and secure asylum for the 
royal family. The following letter shews in what 
estimation his old and faithful servant was held by 
that considerate and warm-hearted master. 



BISHOP HURD, 



189 



My dear good Bishop, — It lias been thought by some 
of my friends, that it will not be necessary to remove my 
family. Should I be under so painful a necessity, I do not 
know where I could place them with so much satisfaction 
to myself, and, under Providence, with so much security, 
as with yourself and my friends at Worcester. It does not 
appear probable that there will be any occasion for it, as I 
do not think the unhappy man who threatens us will dare 
to venture among us ; neither do I wish you to make any 
preparation for us : but I thought it right to give you this 
information. I remain, my dear good Bishop, 

GEOEGE. 

The delicacy of the Bishop's constitution, and 
his frequent attacks of gout and dizziness, must 
have often feelingly reminded him of his mor- 
tality. But we are now to contemplate him as 
suffering, in addition, from the pressure of those 
infirmities which give unmistakeahle warning of 
the approaching close. 

In Dec. 1806, Mr. Hurd * writes to Dr. Drake : 

I have the pleasure to tell you that the good old Bishop 
continues as well as can be expected. He is very feeble, 
and his sight fails him sadly; but he is tolerably free from 
pain, and has had no gout since the last winter : a severe fit 
at that time hung long upon him." 

On July 23, 1807, the Bishop writes his last 

* Richard Hurd was one of three sons of the Bishop's brother 
Thomas. He held the office of Registrar of the diocese of Worcester, 
and acted as private secretary to the Bishop. He was a worthy man, 
of retired habits, and inoffensive character, but not otherwise dis- 
tinguished. 



190 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



letter to his old and faithful friend Sir Edward 
Littleton, who, it appears, had offered him a visit, 
in the following affecting terms : — 

My deae Friend, — You know what my answer would 
be to your kind letter of the 20th, if I were able to give any, 
to my mind. But the time is now over, and I am so weak 
in all senses, and decline so rapidly, that I can encourage no 
friend to come into this gloomy scene ; having indeed been 
under the necessity of declining all company, even that of 
my few very old and best friends. 

God bless you, my dear Sir, and continue to love and 
honour the best of Kings and Constitutions, as you have 
ever done. While I live, I must be yours affectionately and 
faithfully, E. Worcester. 

On the 30th Jan. 1808, Mr. Hurd says to 
Dr. Drake — 

The Bishop has just entered his 89th year, and in as tole- 
rable a state of health as can be expected. The late severe 
weather affected him not a little. 

So late as the first Sunday in February, though 
then declining in health and strength, the Bishop 
was able to attend his parish church, and to re- 
ceive the holy sacrament. 

On the 7th of May, Mr. Hurd's report to Dr. 
Drake is — 

I can make no favourable reply to your letter of the 2nd. 
The Bishop is very much indisposed at this time, and has 
been so for more than two months. A troublesome cough, 
attended with a considerable discharge of phlegm, has of late 
weakened him very much, so that it is with difficulty he can 
move out of one room into another. 



BISHOP HTJRD. 



191 



And on the 28th Mr. Hurd thns announces to 
Sir Edward Littleton the closing scene. 

I take the liberty to acquaint you with the death of my 
truly excellent uncle, the Bishop of Worcester, which hap- 
pened this morning between five and six o'clock. 

iSo final close could be easier. He expired in his sleep, 
without a groan or a struggle. 

At the Bishop's great age, and with his reserved 
and retiring character, it was not to be expected 
that his death-bed would be accompanied with 
those outward demonstrations of religious faith 
and experience which are often exhibited by per- 
sons of a more fervid temperament. But we 
have an equally earnest and less equivocal evi- 
dence of both in the deliberate record of his 
convictions in his Commonplace Book. As the 
entries in this are not generally dated, it is diffi- 
cult to settle the precise period to which the fol- 
lowing passages are to be referred ; but from the 
feeble and tremulous hand in which they are 
written, and from a comparison with those of 
which the dates are given, they evidently belong 
to the three or four last years of his life. 

HUMAN LIFE, 

Subject to many pungent sorrows, and, at best, restless 
and unsatisfied, — abounds in sin and misery ; in sin, through 
disobedience to God's laws, and in misery, through the re- 
gret, remorse, and fear, which the consciousness of that dis- 
obedience inspires. Add to this, the numerous accidents of * 



192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



life; the injuries or discourtesies of our fellow-men; and the 
inevitable pains which flesh is heir to. Still, to complete 
the sad account of human suffering, even our enjoyments are 
not sincere. 

Medio de fonte leporum 

Surgit amari aliquid quod in ipsis floribus angit. 

Lucret. iv. 1126. 

LONG LIFE. 

Among the inconveniences of a long life, one is, that it 
brings us acquainted with the moral as well as physical de- 
fects of ourselves and others. This unwelcome discovery 
unfits and indisposes us for society, at a time when we most 
want the refreshments of it. But let us not complain. It 
serves, too, by the wise disposal of a good Providence, to 
dissolve, or loosen at least, our connection with this world, 
till we are somewhat prepared to take a final leave of it ; or, 
as the poet better expresses it, 

Till half by reason, half by mere decay, 
We welcome death, and calmly pass away. 

Pope's Essay on Man, Ep. ii. v. 260. 

But see the whole passage from verse 249 to 260, which is 
very fine. 

PROVIDENCE. 

How comfortable is the idea of living under the constant 
eye and care of an Almighty and all-gracious Providence ! 
and with what horror must we regard a fatherless world, 
and the sad condition of being exposed to what the poet calls 

Omnipotens fortuna et ineluctabile fatum. 

Virg. iEneid. viii. 334. 

Why puzzle and perplex ourselves about the intricacies of 
Providence? which, however inscrutable to us, we know 



BISHOP HIED. 



193 



to be real, and not general onlv, but particular, since a 
sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father, nay. 
and that the hairs of our head are all numbered. (Matt. x. 
29, 30, and Luke xii. 6, 7.) Why, then, be alternately 
elated or dejected at what takes place in the mysterious 
economy and shifting scene of this world? " ye of little 
faith," oki'yoTnaTOi ! (Matt. vi. 30.) 

CHANGE. 

Things here are in a continual flux. Religion, morals, 
taste, every thing changes in this world. We have, as- 
suredly, her? no abiding city. Should we not. therefore, the 
more solicitously seek one to come? In which, as with the 
Supreme Author and Governor of the universe, there is no 
variableness, or shadow of changing ! 

DEATH. 

It was noblv said bv the famous constable Anne de 
Montmorenci, who dying mortally wounded at the battle of 
Paris* 1567, was then on his death-bed, in his eightieth vear j 
that " it would be a shame for a man who had endured 
life for so long a time, not to bear dying for a quarter of an 
hour." 

What a poor business is the first Tusc. Disput. of Cicero 
" de contemnenda morte !" The whole of it amounts but to 
this: "that man is wretched here, and nothing hereafter." 
Sad consolation ! 

The supposed painful struggles of Death are its chief 
horrors. For, through the boundless mercy of GOD in 
CHRIST JESUS, all but the wilfully impenitent and un- 
believing have good hope of what is to follow. 

Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die. 

* St. Denis near Paris. 
O 



194 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



The Bishop was buried June 10, in the church- 
yard of his parish church, Hartlebury, at the 
western base of the tower. His funeral, by his 
own desire, was strictly private, being attended 
only by his tenants and domestics. A plain altar- 
tomb, inscribed simply with his name, title, aud 
the date of his death, and distinguished only by 
the mitre and crozier carved in relief on its slab, 
marks the place of his earthly rest. 

A cenotaph was afterwards erected to his me- 
mory at the east end of the Lady Chapel in his 
cathedral, bearing in Latin the same simple in- 
scription as his real tomb. 

He had presided over the see of Worcester for 
nearly twenty- seven years, a longer time than any 
Bishop of that see since the Reformation. 



Having thus attended the good Bishop to the 
home of all living, it only remains for us to give 
a general view of his personal appearance, genius, 
and character. 

In person, Bishop Hurd was below the middle 
size, of slight make, but well proportioned, his 
features not marked, but regular and pleasing, 
and his whole aspect intelligent, thoughtful, and 
in later life venerable.* This idea is fully con- 

* The Rev. W. Cole speaks of him at College as " a terse, neat, 
little, thin man." Dr. Dibdin, in his " Reminiscences of a Literary- 
Life," says of the Bishop, 

" T shall never forget his appearance. It was as if some statue had 

' Stepped from its pedestal to take the air.' 



BISHOP HTTRD. 



195 



veyed in the portraits of him extant, by Gains- 
borou^h and others. Although he reached so 
advanced an age, his health seems never to have 
been good; and, notwithstanding his temperate 
and abstemious mode of living, we find in his 
letters frequent complaints of his suffering from 
attacks of gout, dizziness, and lowness of spirits, 
as well as of languor and indolence arising from 
these causes. 

TTith regard to his intellectual endowments, he 
had received from nature remarkable clearness of 
apprehension and accuracy of judgment, great 
aptitude for methodical arrangement, and that 
sagacity which is the primary qualification of a 
critic. He had a peculiar bent for tracing moral 
effects to their causes, and much ingenuity in 
framing hypotheses to account for phenomena. 
He was also gifted with a keen discrimination of 
character, and great skill in seizing its salient 
points. His power of imagination, though not 
vivid enough to constitute him a poet, yet, aided 
by a nice perception and a fine taste, qualified him 
in a high degree for a judge of poetical compo- 
sition. 

These natural endowments he had assiduously 
cultivated first at school, and afterwards at college, 

He was habited in a brocaded silk morning gown, with a full-dressed 
wig, stooping forward, and leaning upon what appeared to be a gold- 
headed cane. His complexion had the transparency of marble : and 
his countenance was full of expression, indicative of the setting of that 
intellectual sun which at its meridian height had shone forth with no 
ordinary lustre." 

o 2 



196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



by the study of the best authors, under the most 
competent instructors, and amidst the most im- 
proving associates. An early love of study had 
led him into various tracks of reading, all of which 
tended to accomplish him as a man of general 
literature. He was critically acquainted with the 
Greek and Latin, and well versed in the Prench 
and Italian languages. Theology, moral and 
political philosophy, poetry, and criticism, were 
prominent objects of his attention. But his chief 
devotion seems to have been to that master- 
science, the study of man in the pages of History, 
ancient and modern, ecclesiastical and civil. In 
proof of this we may appeal to those marked and 
discriminative portraits which he has drawn of 
some of the most eminent characters in our own 
and other histories, as well as to those models of 
good sense, good learning, and good writing, his 
Moral and Political Dialogues. For the exact and 
physical sciences he seems to have had little taste 
or inclination. Nor did antiquarian research find 
more favour with him than with Bishop War- 
burton, who seldom omits an opportunity of ex- 
pressing an unreasonable contempt for it and for 
its votaries. 

His weak point seems to have been a too great 
fondness for systematising ; and a disposition to 
carry to excess that liberty of framing theories to 
account for and explain facts, which, when kept 
within due bounds, the soundest philosophy allows. 
This foible of his has been touched a little too 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



197 



much in the style of caricature by Johnson : see 
Bos well's Life of him by Croker, vol. viii. p. 179. 

His moral character was distinguished by unde- 
viating integrity, and exact propriety, arising from 
principle, rather than from sentiment. It was 
said of him by an unfriendly judge, that he was " a 
cold, correct, gentleman," each word being in- 
tended as emphatic ; and, with due allowance for 
the quarter from whence it came, this judgment 
seems not destitute of truth. Another jocularly 
called him " an old maid in breeches," a sarcasm 
which, though it attributes to him, perhaps not 
unjustly, some share of primness and precision, 
bears testimony to the scrupulous correctness of 
his character. This constitution of mind, whilst 
it rendered him less generally amiable, exempted 
him from many of the temptations to which 
warmer tempers are exposed. In accordance with 
this natural disposition, his friendships were few, 
but they were sincere and lasting. Even such of 
his dependants as were chilled by the distance 
and reserve of his manner seem to have found him 
a steady and consistent friend when any oppor- 
tunity occurred of serving them. He had learned 
from the best philosophy a true estimate of the 
common objects of ambition, and was thus above 
being seduced by the attractions of rank, wealth, 
and literary distinction, into forgetfulness of, or 
contempt for, the station from which he sprang. 
Accordingly, we find him in the height of his 
fortunes cherishing with pious regard and kindly 



198 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 



offices his immediate relatives, though in the hum- 
bler walks of life. It must be in candour allowed, 
that he partook of that fastidiousness and over- 
refinement which characterised Gray, Mason, and 
others of the same school ; neither can he be 
cleared from some share of that superciliousness 
which conscious talent is apt with some to en- 
gender, and of that arrogance and disposition to 
undervalue his opponents which drew so much 
odium upon Bishop Warburton ; although, agree- 
ably to the difference of their tempers, that which 
in Warburton found vent in direct self-praise and 
crushing invective was exhibited by Hurd in a 
calm self-complacency, and what Hooker calls 
" disdainful sharpness of wit." Of these blemishes 
occasional traces appear in his Letters, as well as 
in his controversial works. For the asperity of 
style displayed in the latter, he apologised by an 
apt and graceful application of Horace's words 
" Me quoque pectoris, Sfc." not long before his 
death. 

He has been censured for his too great obse- 
quiousness to Bishop Warburton ; but the charge 
does not appear well founded. That he had a high 
admiration of the Bishop's genius and talents, a 
just appreciation of his friendly warmth and open- 
ness of heart, and a deep feeling of gratitude for 
the benefits he had received from him, there is no 
doubt. But there is no proof of any mean com- 
pliance with or cringing servility to him as a 
patron. On the contrary, he seems to have used 



BISHOP KURD. 



199 



the freedom of a friend in remonstrance and ex- 
postulation (though with the delicacy and address 
that belonged to him) whenever the frank and 
impetuous character of the Bishop needed such a 
check. In his memoir of Warburton, (p. 122, 4to. 
edition,) he says, " I never took greater liberties 
with any man than with him, nor with less 
offence ; and that, in matters of no small deli- 
cacy." (See Eishop Warburton' s Letters : Letters 
cxlv. ccxxxi.) It was the testimony of one who 
was personally and intimately acquainted with 
both, the late Rev. Martin Stafford Smith, that at 
Bishop Warburton' sT visitation dinners it was an 
interesting sight to witness the quiet influence 
exerted over him by his Archdeacon, in toning 
down his exuberant energy, and giving an inoffen- 
sive turn to his unguarded sallies. 

His manners and conversation among his equals 
and superiors we must conclude to have been 
graceful and attractive, or he could not have been 
the chosen associate of Lord Mansfield, Charles 
Yorke, Dr. Heberden, the Duchess of Portland, 
Mrs. Delany, &c, and of the select and accom- 
plished circle so often assembled at Prior Park. 
Still less could he have been admitted, as he was, 
to the familiar intercourse of the King and Queen, 
and selected as the preceptor of the two elder 
princes. It is indeed upon record that the King 
spoke of him as the most naturally polite man he 
had ever known. Although thus qualified to 
shine in society, his preference seems to have been 



200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 

decidedly for private and retired life; and his 
happiest hoars appear to have been spent at Cam- 
bridge and at Thurcaston, in converse with his 
books, and a very few select friends. He always 
preserved a kind of dignified state in his equipage 
and household ; not from any taste or value for 
such appendages in themselves, but because he 
considered them as belonging to his station, and 
necessary to maintain an outward respect for it. 
Although the Castle at Hartlebury is not above a 
quarter of a mile from the parish church, it was 
his practice to the last to go thither in his coach, 
with his servants in their dress liveries. 

He was no traveller. Indeed it does not ap- 
pear that he was ever out of England, strictly so 
called. His sentiments on travelling, particularly 
considered as a branch of education, are given at 
large in his fine Dialogue on Foreign Travel, where 
the subject is fully and very ably discussed. Erom 
this piece it appears that he laid little stress upon 
the rambling humour commonly dignified by that 
name. He was evidently of the opinion of Socrates, 
who had never stirred far from Athens, and who 
used to say that " stones and trees did not edify 
him." Should any be surprised at the extensive 
knowledge of human nature shewn in his works, 
notwithstanding this disadvantage, as it is com- 
monly thought, their wonder will be abated, if 
they consider with how philosophic a view he had 
surveyed the best histories of the most stirring 
times both at home and abroad, scenes in which 



BISHOP HTJKD. 



201 



so much more is learned of the play of human 
passions than any individual experience of foreign 
travel can alford. 

He was never married, nor is there any current 
report, or allusion in his Letters, to any attach- 
ment. Whether this arose from early disappoint- 
ment, or from his devotion to study and retire- 
ment, does not appear. The latter however seems 
the more probable supposition. It may be added 
that he was a subtle analyst of character : and it 
appears from some of the extracts from his Com- 
monplace Book, as well as from his Letters, that, 
whilst he did homage to extraordinary merit in 
the gentler sex, he looked with no indulgent eye 
upon its foibles. This also might have had its 
effect in determining his choice to a single life. 

As a Preacher, his manner was calm, dignified, 
and impressive.* His discourses, though not 
marked by force and energy, had yet a mild per- 

* The following anecdote, given on the authority of the Editor of 
Lady Huntingdon's Life, is too honourable to the Bishop's memory 
to be omitted. 

" The venerable Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, being in the 
habit of preaching frequently, had observed a poor man remarkably 
attentive, and made him some little presents. After a while he missed 
his humble auditor, and, meeting him, said, ' John, how is it that I do 
not see you in the aisle as usual ?' John with some hesitation replied : 
' My Lord, I hope you will not be offended, and I will tell you the 
truth? I went the other day to hear the Methodists ; and I under- 
stand their plain words so much better, that I have attended them 
ever since.' The Bishop put his hand into his pocket, and gave him 
a guinea, with words to this effect : ' God bless you ; go where you 
can receive the greatest proiit to your soul.' " (Life of Lady Hun- 
tingdon, vol. i. p. 18.) 



202 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 



suasiveness, and a tone of gentle insinuation, 
which, joined to frequent originality of thought, 
and constant exactness of method, peculiarly re- 
commended him to his cultivated and refined 
audience at Lincoln's Inn. They had also the 
merit, no inconsiderable one at that period, of 
being (as he recommends it to his clergy, in 
his first Charge, to make theirs,) " wholly Chris- 
tian."* 

In estimating his character as a Bishop, it 
would be unjust to try it by the standard of mo- 
dern times. In his day the energies of the 
Church were imperfectly developed, and the most 
zealous of our prelates were content with holding 
their triennial visitations, and administering the 
rites of ordination and confirmation at the ac- 
customed seasons. In these points, as well as in 
all matters of official duty, it cannot be doubted, 
from the general tenor of his character, that he 
was scrupulously exact. If he was more in his 
library and study than bishops now are, his con- 
duct in this respect may admit of some excuse. 
Granting that our prelates were formerly too 
much devoted to their books, a doubt may rea- 
sonably arise whether in our day they are not too 
little so. Had the time of Usher, Pearson, Walton, 

* He seems to have formed a correct estimate of his powers as a 
preacher, for in a MS. letter of the Rev. William Cole, he is reported 
to have said, previously to his appointment to Lichfield and Coventry, 
that he should prefer the living of St. George's, Hanover Square, to 
a bishopric. 



BISHOP HTJKD. 203 

Jeremy Taylor, Sanderson, and Stillingneet,* 
been divided between a load of semi-secular busi- 
ness, which converted their study into an office, 
and the presidency of public meetings, &c, we 
must have been deprived of those great theolo- 
gical works in which our Church has so long tri- 
umphed. It was not thus that the heroic de- 
fenders of the faith in olden times were trained 
to "banish and drive away strange doctrines 
contrary to God's Word." 

His theological opinions, though honestly 
grounded on Holy Scripture, as expounded by 
our Liturgy and Articles, seem to have varied in 
some measure from both the more prominent 
schools of our own day, and to have partaken of 
the freer speculations prevalent at Cambridge in 
his time, among men of the stamp of Balguy, 
Powell, Ogden, Hallifax, &c. 

His view of politics was at all times limited by 
the bounds of the Constitution, though with some 
variation within those limits at different periods 
of his life. In his earlier years he seems to have 
warped more nearly to Whig, in his latter to Tory 
principles. I 1 or this gradual change a more honour- 
able cause may be assigned than the interested 
motives imputed by his enemies. His experience 

* Even of these great ornaments of our Church it may be said, 
with the exception perhaps of Usher, that they wrote no master- 
pieces after they became Bishops ; and that the cause of religion and 
theological learning would have been better served had they never 
been promoted to the prelacy. 



204 LIEE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 

of the effect of republican doctrines in the inhu- 
man atrocities perpetrated in the name of Liberty, 
and followed by the total loss of the thing > in revo- 
lutionary Prance, had shown him the easy abuse 
to which liberal principles, as they are called, were 
liable, and thus caused him to look with more 
indulgence on those Avhich seemed more favour- 
able to civil order and the public peace. He was 
never captivated by " the fine notion of a busy 
man." Though patronised by men immersed 
in civil affairs, his natural turn for retirement, 
and his acquired habits of study and reflection, 
withheld him from taking any prominent part in 
public business either in or out of Parliament. 
Accordingly we do not hear of him as speaking 
in the House of Lords, or engaging as an active 
partizan in any of the political struggles of his 
time. 

^ As a writer his style is entitled to high praise. 
He had been early a diligent student of Addison, 
and had formed himself (though without servile 
imitation) on the model of that chaste and ele- 
gant author. His manner of writing is accord- 
ingly pure, correct, and simple without affecta- 
tion, forming as nearly as possible a transparent 
medium through which his calm good sense is 
transmitted direct to the mind of the reader. 
His fine encomium on the style of his great 
patron, Lord Mansfield, may be well applied, 
mutatis mutandis, to his own, " Constant good 



f 



BISHOP HTJKD. 205 

sense flowing in apt terms, and in the clearest 
method." It is evident that he had in his earlier 
years imhihed and carefully applied that judi- 
cious precept of Quintilian, ff. Primum hoc con- 
stituendum, hoc ohtinendum est, ut quam optime 
scribamus, celeritatem dabit consuetudo." This 
habit of accuracy is apparent even in the privacy 
and undress of his Commonplace Book, scarcely 
an article in which would not admit of being 
published without alteration or correction. 

Dr. Johnson is said by Mr. Cradock to have 
censured Hurd as a " word-picker : " he was so in 
no sense but that of choosing " proper words," 
and putting them in their "proper places," — the 
very definition given by Swift of a good style. 
There is, as I have just observed, plenty of evi- 
dence in his writings of logical accuracy of ex- 
pression, but none of finical and affected nicety 
in the choice and arrangement of words. 

To draw this estimate to a point : from his ta- 
lents, his acquirements, and his virtues — in par- 
ticular, from the even tenor of his life in an exalted 
fortune — from his generally dispassionate estimate 
of men and things, — from the intimacy and sta- 
bility of his friendships with wise and good 
men, — from the moral and religious tendency of 
his works, — from the purity and correctness of his 
morals, — and, lastly, from the calm and dignified 
manner in which upon Christian principles he bore 
the infirmities of age, and welcomed the approach 



206 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 



of death, Richard Hurd may justly be considered 
as having exemplified his favourite motto, " To 
think soberly, * " and therefore as entitled to that 
"highest style of man," a Christian philoso- 
pher. 

* This motto in the original Greek, surrounded by a wreath of 
bays, and with a pen beneath ; the whole encircled by a luminous 
cloud, occupies a prominent position in the library of Hartlebury 
Castle. The Bishop was fond of allegory, and we may conceive the 
hidden meaning of this ingenious emblem to be, " that the true way 
for an author to attain immortality is to think and write soberly." 
The emblem is very appropriately transferred to the title-page of 
each volume of the Bishop's collected Works. 



BISHOP HURD. 



207 



The following attempt to express the Bishop's 
character in his own favourite manner (see his 
Inscription on Mr. Addison) the Editor trusts 
will not be thought unsuitable in this place : — 

RICARDUS HURD, 
obscuro loco natus, 
a puero literis iisque optirais institutus, 
maturam aetatem 
studiorura fructibus illlustravit : 
Theologus probabilis, 
Concionator gravis, simplex, severus, 
Criticus doctus, acer, perelegans, 
in causis rerura reconditioribus indagandis 
apprime sagax et subtilis ; 
linguae vernaculaa in exemplum scriptor, 
ut Addisoni discipulum 
possis agnoscere : 
Idem 

moribus integer, castus, verecundus, 
amicitiis neque multus neque praefervidus, 
sed constans et ofliciosus : 
Hunc 
mitis sapientia, 
rerum atque hominum usus non vulgaris, 
comitas inaffectata, 
cum mira quadam oris atque aspectus dignitate, 
principibus acceptum fecerunt, 
et summis proprii officii honoribus auctum 
ad sobolis regiae instituendae munus 
commendaverunt : 
cujus inter alia bona illud proecipue notandum, 
in summo apice fortunse, 

unde ortus fuerit 
nunquam oblitum fuisse. 

F. K. 



PAET II. 



SELECTIONS FROM 
BISHOP HCBD'S COMMONPLACE BOOK. 

I. CHARACTERS. 

II. EXTRACTS. 

1. THEOLOGICAL AND MOEAL. 

2. CRITICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 



V 



The contents of Bishop Hurd's Commonplace 
Eook are very various : consisting of— Extracts 
from and Analyses of Books, chiefly of poetry and 
history, in Greek, Latin, French, and Italian, 
having often his own judicious remarks appended ; 
— Characters of Distinguished Persons in our own 
and other histories drawn with full knowledge and 
nice discrimination ; Original Thoughts, moral, 
religious, and political ; and Criticisms, chiefly on 
Virgil, Shakespeare, and Milton. 

These accumulated stores show how extensive, 
and at the same time how discriminating, a reader 
he was ; how admirably he had digested and ap- 
plied his various learning, so as to give to its re- 
production at once the charm of novelty and the 
benefit of utility ; and, above all, how deeply his 
mind was imbued with the principles of true 
religion and sound philosophy ; thus happily 
exemplifying his favourite motto, 

" TO THINK SOBERLY." 

From these varied sources the following selec- 
tions have been made, upon the principle of giving 
the Bishop's own recorded thoughts and impres- 
sions, rather than those which he has drawn from 
others. 

p 2 



I. CHAEACTEBS. 



LUCRETIUS. 

One of the best of the Roman poets. The unlaboured 
ease and originality of his style and manner is almost more 
pleasing than the highly-finished expression and modulation 
of Virgil. The vivida vis animi, at least, makes amends for 
the want of the molle atque facetum. r Tis pity his subject 
was no better. 

How sensible Virgil was of his master's merit, appears 
from that charming digression in the Second Book of the 
Georgics, Me verb primum dulces ante omnia Musce, &c. ; 
where he represents it as his highest ambition to rival him 
in his double character of philosopher and poet 

AUGUSTUS 

is usually spoken of as a perfect model of good fortune and 
of human felicity ; yet he lived to find himself in circum- 
stances which made him wish that he had never been 
married, and that he had died childless. (See Crevier's 
Roman Emperors, vol. i. p. 387). This was said on occasion 
of the ill prospect he had of being worthily represented by 
any of his own family in the succession to the empire. Nor 
was this the only occasion of distress. What must have been 
the feelings of this fortunate prince, when, reflecting on the 
total defeat of his army in Germany, he cried out in a trans- 
port of rage and despair: " Vare, redde mihi legiones ! " 
(Crevier, 453.) There are moments in the lives of the hap- 
piest men, when they can scarce help exclaiming, " Tsedet 
casli eonvexa tueri." So true is it that " man is born to 
trouble, as the sparks fly upwards." (Job. v. 7.) 



bishop hurd's COMMONPLACE BOOK. 213 



SAVONAROLA. 

We have a curious example of this sort of men (enthu- 
thusiasts) in Girolamo Savonarola, a preaching friar, who 
makes a great figure in the second and third books of Guic- 
ciardini's History of Italy. This man had acquired great 
fame by the strictness of his manners, his learning, and his 
eloquence, amongst the people of Florence. His sermons 
were warm and vehement, and, being continued through a 
course of years, had procured him a multitude of admirers 
in that city. Being perhaps naturally of a hypochondriacal 
turn, and deriving a vanity (as is notunusual in these popu- 
lar disc our sers) from the impressions of horror he found him- 
self enabled to strike into the minds of men by his exag- 
gerated invectives and tragical declamation, he came at 
length to persuade himself, or at least the people, that he 
was inspired, and had indeed the commission of a prophet 
to foretel the judgments of God, which, as he said, were 
due to their vices, and were, as he gave out, in a short time 
to descend from heaven upon them. It is probable he at first 
used this language only in a rhetorical way, and as the 
fittest to rouse the attention of his hearers ; the authority 
which these men assume to themselves in Roman Catholic 
countries being very great, and the tone of their rhetoric 
very high, when employed in their office of expounding the 
Word of God, and of denouncing the threats of vengeance 
on the people. But what might be only flashes of his zeal 
came in a short time to be looked upon as prophetic illumi- 
nations. This was occasioned by the calamities which on 
a sudden befel all Italy by the famous expedition of Charles 
VIII. of France, in 1494, against the kingdom of Naples. 
The Italians, who had lived for some time in a profound 
peace, and which had all the appearance in the world of 
being lasting, found themselves at once, from this mad, un- 
expected step of the French King, in circumstances of the 



214 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



utmost disorder; and the consternation of men's minds 
disposed them to see the visiting hand of heaven, and the 
truth of Savonarola's predictions, in the distresses which 
were now brought upon them. This fanaticism rose still 
higher in Florence, the scene and more immediate object of 
the friar's prophetic denunciations, by the confusion into 
which the government of that city was brought by the ex- 
pulsion of Peter de Medicis, in consequence of some ambi- 
tious engagements, which he had been led to enter into at 
this time, to enslave his country. And it seems that, amidst 
his other wild talk, Savonarola had, before the irruption ot 
the French, given some intimations of peculiar disorders 
that were to afflict the state of Florence, as well as of the 
more general distresses that were to afflict all Italy. 

These great events happening to correspond in some sort 
to the vague and menacing harangues of their preacher, 
gave a colour to his pretences of inspiration, and led the 
giddy enthusiastic crowd to consider him in good earnest as 
a very prophet. And now at least it was, if not before, that 
certain worldly considerations struck in and mixed them- 
selves with the heavenly views of this mortified ecclesiastic. 
He found himself the tongue and oracle of the astonished 
citizens; and the importance this gave him in his own eyes 
made him forward to maintain and improve the opinion he 
had thus acquired, by prescribing to them on all occasions 
and directing all measures that were to be taken to com- 
pose their civil distractions. In short, he took advantage 
of the madness of the time ; and like another Peter, I mean 
the Hermit, who had presided in the affair of the Crusades, 
this friar became the soul of Florence, and animated and 
controlled all their deliberations. The government was 
settled by his instigation (and no doubt the part he took 
was most popular) upon the footing of the widest and most 
perfect democracy. He took upon him to manage their 
affairs with the French King, and went to preach and pro- 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



215 



phesy to Mm, as he had done to his fellow-citizens. To 
support his authority amongst his followers, he had taken 
the usual method of inveighing against the great, and espe- 
cially against the Pope and court of Rome, nothing being 
more apt to imprint an opinion of sanctity in the minds of 
men than such freedoms with their superiors. His enemies, 
in the mean time, took advantage of this liberty, and got 
him disgraced at Rome, and even silenced by the Pontiff. 
All this, however, might have had no consequences, but for 
a rupture, which followed the Pope's sentence, between the 
ecclesiastics themselves ; while some of them adhered to the 
cause of the silenced prophet, and others, with more reason, 
to the papal authority. Unluckily for Savonarola, he could 
not perfectly control the enthusiasm he had raised. He 
himself had more reason in his rage than to pretend to 
miracles. But his idolizers, whose heads he had turned, 
had not this command of themselves. One of his brother 
friars, to prove the superiority of Savonarola^s cause, had 
offered to put it to this test, that on a day and place ap- 
pointed he would, in the presence of the whole city, throw 
himself into a red-hot fire, and demonstrate by this experi- 
ment, from which he reckoned with confidence to come off 
with safety, that his master was no impostor, but a true 
prophet. There was, it seems, another friar of the opposite 
party, whose zeal had made him mad enough to agree to 
this proposal, and submit himself to the flames, for the same 
purpose. 

This, we may suppose, was going further than our more 
sage prophet designed. But the business was no longer in 
his own hands ; and the people looked for this final and un- 
answerable confirmation of his character. Savonarola was 
prophet enough to foresee the consequence of this infatua- 
tion of his disciple. He even contrived an admirable ex- 
pedient to elude it. When the day came, he advised his 
partizan when he went to the fire to carry the Host with 



216 SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



him in his hands, by which he said he would be secured 
from all danger. But the people taking fire upon this', and 
not enduring the profanation of exposing their God to the 
flames, (as the prophet, no doubt, had also foreseen,) would 
not suffer him to make use of this protection. Savonarola 
insisted absolutely upon it; which, not being complied with, 
the experiment fell to the ground: but the people having 
the sense, for this time, to take the thing right, and as a 
mere subterfuge to avoid the necessity of this fiery trial, his 
authority fell with it. And by this disgrace his enemies 
were now strong enough to seize his person, and put him 
into prison. The effect was, for now the tide ran as strong 
the other way, that he was brought to his trial before the 
Pope's Commissioners, found guilty of heresy, contumacy, 
sedition, and I know not what besides, and condemned to be 
burned; as he accordingly was, and himself forced to make 
that experiment from which he had wisely diverted his 
follower. To conclude this long story, he suffered with 
constancy enough; but, as the blaze of his fanaticism was 
over (and had been so, it maybe supposed, from the time of 
his engaging himself so deeply in matters of policy,) he 
ended his life in a sullen silence, without saying one word 
for his cause or himself, or even against his persecutors. 

Whatever may be thought of the reality of this unhappy 
man's enthusiasm in the time of his prosperity, it was not, 
we see, violent enough to withstand this last trial of martyr- 
dom: "A dreadful period," as one excellently observes, 
" when nature, by the very shock and in the struggle it 
then suffers, becomes enabled to shake off all the fumes of 
mental, as, on other occasions, of corporeal, intoxication." 
(Dr. Warburton, Sermons, vol. i. p. 238.) 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



217 



MARTIN LUTHER. 

For an account of Martin Luther's person see a curious 
Letter of Petrus Mosellanus, in the Appendix to Jortin's 
Erasmus, vol. ii. 356. The common prints, I think, repre- 
sent him as a large, broad-shouldered, and butcherly fellow ; 
whereas, in fact, he was a middle-sized, spare man, all bone 
and sinew, or, as Bentley said of Dr. Samuel Clarke, all 
cordage. But the whole passage in the Letter of Mosei- 
lanus is worth consulting. 

SIR THOMAS MORE. 

He was a learned, wise, and exceeding good man ; extremely 
bigoted to the errors of Popery, which first made him the 
persecutor of the Protestants, and in the end cost him his 
life. Excepting in this instance, his character was almost 
faultless. He had every accomplishment of his time, and 
every virtue of humanity. He had a passionate love for 
learning and learned men. His own writings are esteemed 
the most elegant and masterly of any of that age. The 
liveliness of his wit and his zeal for Popery caused him to 
treat the persons he wrote against with more acrimony than 
was natural to his temper. But his controversial pieces, 
which are large and numerous, (for he was the chief person 
who appeared in that controversy,) are to be admired -even 
at this day, for their good sense, the plausibility of his ar- 
gumentation, the sprightliness of his fancy, and the elegance 
of his raillery. If truth had not lain so evidently as it did 
on the side of Protestantism, such an adversary, in its first 
appearance, must have given a considerable check to it. 
See further Bishop Burnet's character of him, Hist. Ref. vol. i. 



218 SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HTTKD'S 



BISHOP GARDINER. 

It seems no easy tiling to give the just character of this 
great prelate, occasioned, not only by the different repre- 
sentations of him in our history, but the singularity of his 
composition. He was eminently learned in the civil and 
canon laws, (which was the chief accomplishment of men 
of business in those days,) as appears from the head he had 
in Henry's divorce, and the attention paid to his advice and 
judgment throughout that affair. He was also a great master 
of polite letters, as may be seen from his writings, and a 
great patron of learned men. He had an uncommon genius 
for affairs, as appears, not only from his embassies, but his 
administration under Queen Mary, and especially his con- 
duct with regard to the Parliament and the Spanish match. 
He was subtle, enterprising, and ambitious, as all accounts 
of him testify : a profound dissembler in matters of religion, 
as is clear from comparing his behaviour during the life of 
Henry with his conduct in Mary's reign. He is allowed to 
have been but an indifferent Divine ; and indeed his con- 
stant employment in business makes that very credible, if 
his writings had not given, as Dr. Burnet thinks, full proof 
of it. From his pliant, supple, and temporising submission 
to Henry's projects in reformation, one should suppose he 
had no very delicate conscience. And yet his firmness and 
sufferings in Edward Vlth's time, and his zeal for Popery 
under Mary, would suggest another conclusion. Perhaps 
his knowledge of the mild temper of Cranmer, and, in general, 
of the Protestant administration of Edward, and his resent- 
ments at being excluded from the Council, might make him 
less tractable than he had shewn himself to Henry's per- 
emptory humour. Perhaps, too, his ambition, and his 
resolution to retain the place of first minister to such a bigot 
as Mary, might induce him to shew himself less a Protestant 
than he really was. He was, perhaps, as proud and impe- 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



219 



rious as Wolsey. but less boastful, arrogant, and ostenta- 
tious. The love of power was his first passion, but he was 
not so ambitious as Wolsey to make a show of it. He had, 
perhaps, as great talents for government as his master, but 
with more popularity, and a more dexterous carriage in the 
management of it. It is certain he had the best parts, and 
the steadiest head for affairs, of any of the great men of that 
time. He seems cut out rather for the world than the 
Church, and, if he was a more dexterous man of affairs than 
Cranmer, he was not by a great deal so good a Bishop. 
{See further a very critical examination of his history in the 
Biographia Britannica, art. Gardiner.) 

ERASMUS. 

Two infirmities in this great man account for all the in- 
consistencies of his character. These were vanity and 
timidity. His vanity led him to expose the abuses which 
his penetration and love of truth had discovered in the 
Church : for Protestantism, or a free vein of disquisition con- 
cerning the then state of religion, was as fashionable in his 
time as infidelity is become in ours, But as such freedom 
in writing and speaking was sure to give offence, and could 
not but be attended with danger, his timidity led him again 
to palliate or explain away what he had justly advanced. 
Hence he was obnoxious both to Protestants and Papists. 
-He certainly wished and aimed at a reformation of religion ; 
but he wished, at the same time, that this reformation might 
be brought about by gentle and pacific means only: a thing 
impossible after a ferment had been raised in men's minds 
by his own free writings, and especially by the furious 
invectives of Luther. If his scheme could have been 
effected, the mischiefs and miseries (which were innumerable 
and excessive) of the Reformation had been avoided. It 
might have been effected if all men had been as prudent and 



220 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD'S 



conciliatory as he was disposed to be; but by slow degrees 
and in a greater compass of time than the passion of the two 
parties would allow. On the whole, Erasmus was an ex- 
cellent man as well as writer; and, though the boisterous 
hand of Luther did at once what the other had projected, 
yet it was done the easier for the agreeable and popular in- 
formation conveyed by Erasmus. And therefore it was truly 
but coarsely observed, that the one laid the egg which the 
other hatched. 



CARDINAL WOLSEY. 

SOME TOUCHES OF HIS CHARACTER. 

The most powerful and absolute minister that has ever 
been known in England : of singular penetration and un- 
questioned capacity for affairs. The superiority of his 
talents appears from his successful ministry, and the ascen- 
dancy he alone could gain and held for so long a time over 
such a prince as Henry VIII. He was immeasurably (self-) 
sufficient, haughty, and ambitious. Yet withal had a 
nobleness of nature, which showed itself in his preferring 
and employing men of the first abilities, as Gardiner and 
Cromwell (of whom little ministers would have stood in 
awe), and in his vast projects of charity, not to speak of 
his liberality and magnificent state of living. It was sin- 
gular in him that he made his own interested and ambi- 
tious views in the management of foreign politics consistent 
with the real glory and interest of the country. It is not 
easy to say to what his fall was owing : whether to any 
double-dealing of his in the affair of the divorce — to the 
disgust Henry took to him on his not being able to accom- 
plish it, if indeed he really wished and designed it — to any 
resentments and practices of Anne Boleyne against him — to 
Henry's jealousy of his power and ascendancy over him, 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



221 



which he was therefore willing to rid himself of as soon as 
he found he could do without him, as upon Cranmer's 
proposal to proceed in another manner about the divorce 
than by negotiating with the Court of Eome he found he 
could — to Henry's policy, in letting the Pope see what 
firmness he was capable of if provoked to the utmost, when 
he did not scruple sacrificing so great and favourite a 
minister ; or in designing to bring the Pope to a compliance 
with his own terms, who, he might think, would rather do 
this than let Wolsey be ruined, whose views on the papacy 
would make him a fast friend to Eome (this last seems the 
more probable, since he did not ruin him so far,, but that on 
compliance of the Pope, there was hope left to restore him 
to favour); or in the view of ingratiating himself to the 
people at a time he perceived he should have great need of 
their confidence (being about to break with the Pope) by 
sacrificing to their resentments an arbitrary, overgrown, and 
therefore odious minister — to his avarice, which longed for 
the plunder of the Cardinal's great wealth — or 3 lastly, to the 
mere wanton tyranny of this capricious prince. It seems a 
secret, whether these reasons, or any of them, procured his 
disgrace. Certainly, unless the first of these surmises be 
well founded, the King had no sufficient cause to proceed 
with such violence against him as his minister. As his 
virtues as well as vices seem to have been the effects of his 
ungoverned nature, so he neither bore his greatness without 
insolence, nor his disgrace without meanness. He had 
never taken pains to provide those moral or Christian graces, 
which might have taught him to support both states with 
decency. He was indeed much a stranger to the virtues 
either of a Christian or a Churchman. He was vindictive, 
secular, sensual. He was a bad man, and a worse bishop ; 
but an able minister, and a bountiful and magnificent 
prelate. 



222 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



CROMWELL EARL OF ESSEX. 

He was a man of business and capacity for affairs : supple, 
dexterous, and indefatigable: lie bad been trained to an im- 
plicit and obsequious service under Wolsey, wbicb, we may 
be sure, did not a little recommend bim to sucb a master as 
Henry. Yet in bis bigbest honours be was affable and mo- 
derate, partly of bis own nature, and partly perbaps from 
observing the ill effects of the contrary behaviour in 
Wolsey, He showed a noble temper in his grateful remem- 
brance of the merchant of Lucca, and in pleading with the 
warmth he did for his old discarded master in the House of 
Commons, at a time when his secretary Gardiner, though 
more obliged to bim, had deserted him, or, at best, served 
him with more caution and reserve, and with a greater 
attention to his own interests. But the clearest proof of his 
merit is having deserved the friendship and esteem of such 
a man as Cranmer ; and the best fruit of bis ministry was his 
joining the Archbishop to promote the Reformation. His 
steadiness in this cause, together with the envy of his 
greatness (which, as he was of a mean family, could not but 
be very great), brought on his ruin ; if it be not rather to be 
ascribed to the capricious tyranny of his prince, who, when 
Cromwell had served him with great diligence and capacity 
in the two great points he had most at heart, his Supremacy 
and the Suppression of the Monasteries, wantonly sacrificed 
him to the malice of bis enemies. The greatest blot on his 
ministry is his compliance with the King's pleasure to attaint 
several persons in Parliament, without their being suffered 
to make their answer : a dangerous precedent, which fell 
afterwards on himself. After all, he was a great minister, 
and might have passed for a very great man, if the slavish 
submission he made to the King after his condemnation 
had not discovered an abject baseness of nature which no 
talents or services can atone for or excuse. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



223 



CRANMER. 

An unquestionably learned, humane, charitable, and 
pious man. His nature was singularly frank and open. 
His zeal for pure religion as delivered in the Gospel was 
ardent : yet he was too fearful and compliant in some things 
against his own better judgment. Perhaps the sense of 
great obligations to Henry, as well as the resolute, vindictive 
temper of that prince, was sometimes a snare to him. He 
was by temper mild and moderate, sincere and constant 
in his friendships, and a great favourer of learning and 
learned men. It is no wonder his notions of Christian 
liberty were, in those times, imperfect, which made him, 
against the natural bent of his mind, in some few instances 
a persecutor. It is but of late we have understood the doc- 
trine of toleration in its full extent. His greatest failing- 
was his recantation at Oxford, the effect of a natural consti- 
tutional timidity, which yet he repaired as well as he could 
by giving the sincerest marks of repentance. On the whole, 
he lived in trying times, and was, with the exception of a 
few faults, an eminently great and good man. 

ARCHBISHOP PARKER. 

The first Protestant archbishop in Queen Elizabeth's reign. 
A man of unmistakably ancient manners. Trained up in the 
knowledge and love of Protestantism under Bucer, Ridley, 
and other great reformers at Cambridge: made Queen 
Anne (Boleyn)'s Chaplain 1533: much considered as a 
preacher under Edward VI.: absconded in Queen Mary's 
time: forced, against his will, into the Archbishopric of 
Canterbury by his friends Sir William Cecill and Sir 
Nicholas Bacon on Queen Elizabeth's succession. A prelate 
of an honest mind and firm temper : warmly attached to the 
Church as established by law, and therefore an enemy to all 



224 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



innovations and puritanical fancies about habits, Presbyterian 
government, &c. for which many of the divines in that time 
had contracted strong prejudices during, their residence abroad 
in Queen Mary's time. He was curious and greatly learned 
in the antiquities of England, principally such as related to 
the Church: of a bountiful and magnificent temper, as 
appears from his port and state of living while he was Arch- 
bishop, and his numerous benefactions to colleges, hospitals, 
&c. The greatness of his mind is seen in his unfeigned 
refusal of the Archbishopric, his plainness with the haughty 
Queen on several occasions, and his freedom with Sir 
Nicholas Bacon, whom he reproved for his practices to get 
the church-lands from the Queen. His letter to Lady Bacon, 
excusing the offence he had given his great friend on that 
account, shews an honesty and spirit superior to what we 
usually meet with in ecclesiastical, or indeed in any other, 
history. It seems from a letter written on his death-bed to 
Queen Elizabeth on the same subject, (which he had much at 
heart,) as if he had taxed his other great friend, Sir W. 
Cecill, on the same account. Whether he had used the 
same liberty with him as with Sir N. Bacon is not certain. 



WHITGIFT. 

The third Archbishop of Canterbury in Queen Elizabeth's 
reign seems to have surpassed his two predecessors, Parker 
and Grindal, in learning and abilities. He was zealously 
attached to the Church, yet not more so perhaps than the 
circumstances of the time required to defeat the restless and 
enthusiastic endeavours of Puritanism. His firmness and 
high spirit were so tempered by discretion that, notwith- 
standing some great enemies, he kept in favour all that 
reign. Two things bear hard upon his moral character : the 
one, his letter to Lord Burghley, acquainting him with a 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



225 



letter written on his death-bed by Archbishop Parker, re- 
flecting on his depredations of the Church-revenues, not- 
withstanding that Parker had been his great friend and pro- 
moter : the other, his excessive flattery to King James at the 
Hampton Court Conference. Of the two, this last, con- 
sidering the zeal and dangerous attempts of the Puritans, 
and the struggles he had all his life had with them, is the 
soonest to be excused. It was the overflowing of his joy to 
find the new King so much in the Church's interests. The 
other, as I said, seems less excusable: yet, considering the 
whole of the Archbishop's character and conduct, the infor- 
mation conveyed to Lord Burghley might be intended only 
to give some check to that lord's depredations of the Church, 
which were great and notorious. He probably thought 
that the last words of Parker, who had been so closely con- 
nected with the Treasurer, and so much obliged to him, would 
carry more weight with them than any reprehension from 
himself, or from any other quarter; while, at the same time, 
he gave less offence to that minister, whom it concerned 
him to manage for the Church's sake, than he would have 
done by a direct reproof in his own person. 



BUCHANAN. 

His De jure Regni ajpud Scotos, a spirited and elegant 
dialogue betwixt the author and Thomas Maitland; in 
which the true principles of Government are delivered: 
next, the distinction betwixt a King and a Tyrant is ex- 
plained : and the whole concludes with insisting that kings 
are accountable to their subjects; that this is the condi- 
tion of kingship, particularly in Scotland ; and that tyrants 
may be judged, and even put to death, without blame, nay 
with the highest honour, by their abused subjects. There 
is a singular spirit of freedom in this tract, especially for the 
time when it was written, and it gives me a high idea of 

Q 



226 



SELECTIONS EHOM BISHOP HURB-'s 



the honesty or boldness of this writer, that he presumed to 
address a discourse of this sort to his pupil, King James the 
Sixth. This strong love of liberty, to which his warm 
temper and elevated genius naturally inclined him, was 
catched or at least much confirmed in him by his familiarity 
with the classical story of the Greeks and Komans, the great 
doctors of civil liberty to all countries and ages. The whole 
was written with a view to the late dealings about the Queen 
of Scots. The dialogue, as to its manner, is very masterly, 
except that there seems a little affectation in conducting it 
according to the Socratic method. There seems no great 
difference between Buchanan's notions and Milton's on the 
subject of civil government. The former defends his nation's 
treatment of Mary Queen of Scots by the same arguments, 
and with the same zeal, with which the other vindicates the 
proceedings against Charles the First by the people of Eng- 
land. If there be any difference, it is what arises from the 
superior greatness of Milton's genius. There seems an equal 
bitterness and rancour in both. 



D' A VILA. 

" I remember, the first time I ever saw D'Avilds History 
of the Civil Wars of France, it was lent me under the title 
of Mr. Hampden's Vade-mecum" (Sir Philip Warwick's 
Memoirs, p. 240). I don't wonder that Mr. Hampden was 
fond of this history, or that it was much read in the time 
of our civil wars. The subject itself was enough to recom- 
mend it. Besides, it must be owned there is uncommon 
merit in the composition. The method, natural, easy, and 
distinct: the narrative, perspicuous, lively, eloquent: the 
writer's knowledge of his subject particular and exact; his 
sagacity in penetrating the secret springs of policy, and, in 
general, his comprehension of human life and manners, won- 
derful. He had been bred in camps, and in courts; this 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



227 



enabled him to succeed so well in describing both. Yet 
hence, too, arose the only faults I observe in him. Being 
a soldier by profession, his account of battles, sieges, &c. is 
more minute than perhaps is proper in a general history, 
and, having been brought up in the refined court of Cathe- 
rine de Medicis, the politician gets the better of the historian. 
It does so remarkably in his description of the Bartholomew 
Massacre, and the Assassination of Blois, which he seems to 
contemplate on their political side only; whereas, if politics 
or some prejudice had not suppressed his moral sense, what 
a fine occasion for exerting all his powers of description ! 
As it is, the Bartholomew Massacre is one of the coldest, and 
therefore most disgusting, parts of his history. A great his- 
torian should have all his moral sentiments undebauched, 
and vigorous. Corrupted by politics or his prejudice for 
the Queen Mother, he almost forgets that he is relating the 
most atrocious deed that ever was perpetrated, and almost 
seems as if he should be satisfied with these perfidies and 
sanguinary measures if the policy of them were but justifi- 
able. It is not thus that Lord Clarendon would have treated 
such a subject. 

" To show you I require something more than ability 
even in a writer, I must tell you that D'Avila, whom I 
amuse myself with at this time, is not half the favourite 
with me as Lord Clarendon. Not that he does not excel 
supremely in all the arts of historical composition ; but he 
does not feel for goodness like Lord Clarendon. And, with- 
out this seasoning, a common newspaper would be almost 
as agreeable reading to me as a page of Livy. This 
D'Avila is a very politician, and we may truly say with the 
poet, I mean as interpreted by Lord Shaftesbury, 

Rarus communis sensus in ilia 

Fortuna. 



Hence he is perfectly enamoured of that she-monster, some- 

q2 



228 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



thing between a fox and an hyena, the Queen Mother. And 
hence he can relate the horrid Bartholomew Massacre in a 
style that shews he regrets nothing in that affair but its 
want of success, or, at most, its defects in point of policy. 
I confess to you I had much ado to bring myself to read 
any more of this accomplished historian." (Letter to Dr. 
Balguy, dated Thurcaston, 2 Nov., 1759.)* 

HUGO GROTIUS. 

The genius, capacity, and learning of this extraordinary 
man are well known from his writings. His probity, his 
zeal for religion, yet tempered by an invincible love of peace, 
are amongst the principal ingredients of his moral character. 
He had very early observed the sad effects of religious zeal 
in the parties of the Kemonstrants and Anti-Remonstrants, 
which so miserably distracted his country in the beginning 
of the seventeenth century, and to which himself was at 
length an unhappy victim. This experience, joined to his 
humane and charitable nature, inspired him with that be- 
nevolent but chimerical project of uniting all Christians in 
the profession of one common faith, which made the grand 
object of his thoughts and studies through the remainder of 
his life. To this project, in the pursuit of which he was 
somewhat enthusiastic, were owing in a good degree the 
enmities he had to encounter from many eminent persons, 
especially amongst the rigid Protestants, and some of the 
most exceptionable of his works. His piece concerning 
Antichrist was composed with the view of conciliating the 
Papists. For he had observed the application of the cha- 
racters of Antichrist to the Pope to have been a principal 
cause of estranging the Catholics from all thought of agree- 
ment and union with the Protestants, and of fomenting an 

* The reader will, it is hoped, excuse the repetition of this passage, which 
occurs at p. 79. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



229 



incurable dislike and hatred betwixt them. He even con- 
ceived the notion of the Pope's supremacy might be so ex- 
plained as to agree with Scripture, the interests of the Church, 
and of religion. It was principally his love of peace, but 
subordinately to this his experience of the rancour of the 
Protestants and their ill-usage of him — his long residence 
in France, and friendship with Petavius and other learned 
papists — his veneration for antiquity, which is but too favour- 
able to the cause of popery- — that were so many snares to 
him, and inclined him, in the latter part of his life especially, 
too much on the side of popery. Xot that he was a papist, 
but he flattered himself that by candour and some allow- 
ances popery might be so moderated as to induce all Pro- 
testants to a reconciliation with it. This was the weak part 
of that great man's character. In every other respect he 
was the blessing and prodigy of the age in which he lived. 
(See his Life by M. de Burigny. Paris, 1752).* 

ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS. 

As for the character of this great prelate, considering the 
seeming inconsistency of his conduct, and the contrariety 
of reports and judgments which writers of the best credit 
give of him, it seems no easy matter to guess at it. Yet 
on a careful review of his life, as commented upon by 
friends and enemies, but principally, I confess, by his friend 
and cnaplain Bishop Hacket, (who seems to have written 
his history with good fidelity, notwithstanding the affection 
by which he was visibly biased towards him,) I have ven- 
tured to give the following sketch as some little resemblance 
of him. 

He was naturally of a high and confident spirit, presum- 
ing on his own abilities, which indeed were very great, 
whether we consider the force of his understanding, the 
vigour and promptness of his wit, his courage and resolu- 

* See also Bishop Hurd's collected Works, vol. v. p. 221. 



230 



SELECTIONS EROM BISHOP HTJKD's 



tion, or, lastly, his learning. This last was considerable, 
and, according to the mode at that time, he took all occa- 
sions to shew it. He was a man, from his early years, 
active, indefatigable, whether in study or in business, in- 
triguing, and ambitious. His promotion to the office of 
Lord Keeper was an extraordinary thing ; but, however he 
might have been unequal to it at first, it seems from the tes- 
timony of a great judge (Lord Chief Justice Hobart) that 
the experience of some time enabled him to fill it with good 
ability. There seems no doubt of his having been faithful 
and incorrupt in the discharge of it. His zeal for the Spanish 
match proved his ruin, though it is likely he first took it 
up as a good courtier, to please his master, and, as he then 
thought, the favourite; yet his honesty, or the warmth of 
his temper, made him not so compliant in some things as is 
expected of a good courtier, especially of one who has to do 
with such a master as Buckingham's. This great lord was 
also jealous of his intriguing turn, as well as disgusted with 
his earnestness in maintaining his own humour. " Whenso- 
ever I disagree with him," says he, " he will prove himself 
to be in the right; and, though I could never hitherto de- 
tect him to be dishonest, I am afraid of his wit." (Philips's 
Life of Archbishop Williams, p. 152.) He was hasty and 
choleric; but, as it seems, and, as usual with such natures, 
relenting and generous. He was of a liberal, munificent 
mind, as appears from his charities and his port, and whole 
manner of living. His conduct in affairs, if not able, was 
shrewd, and his talent was rather for fetches and expe- 
dients than for weighed and solid counsels. As a Church- 
man, he was less a Papist than, from some transactions 
during the progress of the Spanish match he was commonly 
reputed; and, after his removal from business, less sl Puritan 
than his moderation, and, no doubt, resentment against 
Laud, gave a handle to many persons to represent him. 
Sir P. Warwick was of this opinion : speaking of this bishop 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



231 



he says — " He understood a Court better than he (Laud) 
did, and was as high in spirit as he had been in place; and, 
if he had been looked on in his inside, was more a dis- 
contented courtier than an uncanonical bishop, notwith- 
standing his " Coal from the Altar." (Mem. p. 92.) He 
certainly affected the fame of a moderate man, but it is un- 
certain whether this moderation were not as much owing to 
his policy or disgust at some Churchmen as to his own 
judgment and principles. His warm and fiery temper gave 
his enemies great advantages against him, especially during 
his disgrace, and whilst the persecution in the Star-chamber 
was carrying on against him. Having a quick sense of his 
sufferings, he would sometimes break out into a freer and 
more unguarded discourse concerning persons and things 
than discretion should have prescribed, in which liberty, 
perhaps, he indulged also too much to his natural vanity. 
Yet, on the whole, I find no good reason to suspect his 
loyalty, unless perhaps in the affair of Conway Castle, in 
which it is certain he was too much transported by his pas- 
sion. The wrong step he took in advising the Protestation 
was owing to the same cause. It may indeed he questioned 
whether both his good and bad actions were not rather 
the result of his natural temper than of any rooted and 
fixed principles. What lies heaviest on his memory is, the 
method by which he attempted to satisfy the King's con- 
science- about consenting to the act of attainder against 
Lord Strafford. This would almost persuade one that in 
all trying conjunctures he was more directed by policy than 
principle, except perhaps when the violence of his passion 
proved too hard for both, and yet in this affair he had the 
concurrence of three other bishops of credit, and, amongst 
them, of Archbishop Usher himself.* However it be, 

* There is reason to suspect this charge against the Archbishop, 
though marie by Bishop Hacket and others, is not true. See his 



232 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD'S 



this was the greatest blemish in his character, as his greatest 
misfortune was to be exposed to Laud's resentment and 
jealousy whilst he lived, and to be transmitted to posterity 
by so wise and good a man as Lord Clarendon under the 
notion of " a vain, light, inconstant, and turbulent man." f 

ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 

On reading the defence of this famous Archbishop written 
by himself in the Tower, and published from his original 
papers by Wharton, I find him to have been a very learned, 
able, and, I believe, honest man. The charge of his being a 
Papist was one of the groundless, malicious, and impudent 
slanders of that distracted age. It is certain he had high 
notions of Church -power, and of the regal prerogative, though 
in both he seems to have bounded himself within the laws 
as they stood, or were conceived by him to stand, at that 
time. His grand object was to secure the hierarchy against 
the restless attacks of the Puritan faction, and to maintain 
the Church of England in the uniform observance of that 
decent worship established by law. His having these points 

Life by his Chaplain Dr. Parr, p. 61, folio, London, 1686. (Note by 
Bishop Hurd.) 

* In a MS. letter to Dr. Balguy dated Nov. 27, 1753, Warburton 
says : "Mr. Hurd has entertained me and Mr. C. Yorke very greatly 
by an incomparable character of Archbishop Williams. We did not 
know his strength here; he is a painter and a master on first handling 
the crayons;" and in one of his published letters to Hurd (Letter 
LIX.) dated Dec. 6, the same year, he writes : " You have sufficiently 
shown me with what spirit and attention you have applied yourself 
to one period of history by the character you have drawn of Bishop 
Williams. I read it to Mr. Yorke, who had read Hacket, (Life of 
Archbishop Williams,) and he admires your thorough penetration 
into Williams's character, and the masterly manner in which it is 
drawn up." 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



233 



so much at heart (which he further believed essential to the 
interests of the Crown, and the support of the monarchy,) 
was what disposed him to a more rigorous execution of 
Church censures, and a stricter enforcement of Church 
ceremonies, than those times, which from many causes were 
running wild with notions of religious liberty, would bear. 
A late writer says, u He had not knowledge of the world 
enough to govern a petty college."* This pitiful and in- 
decent censure is of a piece with the other reflections in that 
factious work. All that is true of it is, that he did not 
attend so much to the circumstances of that wild age as 
from his great sense and experience might have been ex- 
pected. This was his master's fault too. Sir Philip "War- 
wick says well, " The rectitude of his nature made him not 
a fit instrument to struggle with the obliquity of these 
times." (Memoirs, p. 91.) He might have seen from what 
passed in Scotland what the Presbyterian party was capable 
of. But their fierceness too naturally increased the Arch- 
bishop's firmness and resolution. He acted from a strong 
conviction of the goodness of his cause. He thought the 
King's power sufficient to support him in his designs : and 
perhaps his superior genius, as well as his temper, made him 
slight the artifice of less direct and slower methods to 
accomplish his end. 

But the time for Religious and Civil Liberty to prevail 
over an encroaching royalty, and a too imperious hierarchy, 
was at hand. The near approach of the divine form created 
an enthusiasm, which prevailed to that degree as in the end 
to frustrate the generous views of her first and sincerest 
worshippers. In these ecstatic orgies the unhappy King 
could not prevent his ablest and best ministers from falling 
victims to that fury which in the end forced off his own 
head. 



Lord Bolingbroke's Remarks on the English History. 



234 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



Additions to this Character. 

He was certainly no Papist, if by that term is meant one 
who agrees with the Church of Eome in its essential doc- 
trines. But he was, in truth, much addicted to the pomp 
and ceremonious observances of that Church; both from his 
natural disposition, which was somewhat superstitious, and 
form a persuasion of the importance of external ceremony in 
divine worship to the great ends of religion. Hence he was 
forward to catch at any old and obsolete canon that would 
countenance him in reviving any ceremony; not consider- 
ing the offence such innovations (for innovations they would 
be called, on account of their long desuetude, whatever might 
be alleged from some canons in their favour,) must needs 
give to the squeamish stomachs of that time. It must be 
owned he trusted too much to the integrity of his views, and 
the interest he had with the King ; and regarded too little 
the circumstances of the age, and the dispositions of the 
people, on whom the principles of Puritanism had now made 
a very general impression. I cannot tell whether, all things 
considered, they could have been reclaimed from those 
principles by anything but the experience the nation after- 
wards had of the ruinous tendency of them. But cer- 
tainly the Archbishop's method was very improper for that 
purpose. 

What contributed to quicken the Archbishop's zeal for 
Church ceremonies and some other measures which gave 
occasion to his enemies to suspect him of bad designs in 
favour of Popery, was (besides the necessity he was under of 
keeping well with the Queen by all lawful compliances,) 
the strange project, so often and so weakly entertained by 
many great Protestants, of uniting the Protestant and Romish 
Churches in one communion. Laud, Heylin, and the other 
zealous churchmen of that time were full of this project; 
which, no doubt, they conceived, besides its other uses, 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



235 



would prove an effectual security to the Establishment 
against the factious attempts of Puritanism. (See what has 
been said of the weakness of Grotius in this point under 
art. Grotius.) 

His proceedings in the High Commission and Star Chamber 
have been much cried out upon. He was severe and rigid 
in his censures. But his plea was, that he was always guided 
in them by the love of justice, and an inflexible regard to 
his judgment and conscience. A moderate adversary would 
reply to this, that the infirmities of humanity are great, and 
how could he assure himself that his very judgment and 
conscience were not sometimes (perhaps imperceptibly to 
himself) corrupted and prepossessed by passion ? 

Perhaps this is the best excuse that can be made for his 
severity against Williams, the greatest blot, as appears to 
me, in his character. The enmity betwixt these two great 
men began out of politic considerations. They were rivals 
for preferment and Court favour. Laud had the advantage 
in this contention. Jealousy and envy afterwards widened 
this breach. The officious meddling of dependants and 
pick-thanks, no doubt, kept them at a still greater distance. 
Their notions and principles in Church matters were also 
different. No wonder, if from these causes some animosities 
should arise betwixt them. But can all this excuse the 
vindictive prosecutions in the Star Chamber? Say that 
Williams had been indiscreet, had been too refractory and 
obstinate, had even incurred some fault in the management 
of his causes : it would surely have been for the honour of 
the Archbishop to proceed against him more gently. Abso- 
lute ruin was too much to leave this great man free from all 
suspicion of using his power and influence too hardly, 
indeed vindictively, against him. Dr. Heylin surely slurs 
over this great matter too negligently in his apology for 
his life. 



236 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUED's 



JOSEPH HALL. 

Bishop of Exeter, and afterwards of Norwich, one of the 
most considerable churchmen and most extraordinary per- 
sons of the seventeenth century. He was educated at Cam- 
bridge in Emmanuel College, where he was admitted soon 
after the foundation of it, about the year, I believe, 1590, 
and of which he was afterwards Fellow. He very early dis- 
tinguished himself by two anonymous works, the one his 
volume of Satires, the first in our language, and a moral 
fiction called Mundus alter et idem, which he composed at 
college, when very young. His Satires, if they have not the 
depth and sense of Donne's, are infinitely more classical and 
poetical. They were very much admired by Mr. Pope. 
The Mundus alter et idem is ingenious, and abounds in fine 
strokes of satire. But the allegory is often hard and dis- 
pleasing. He had a fruitful and inventive genius. 

He wrote a fine book of Characters after the manner of 
Theophrastus, which will bear reading after La Bruyere's. 
He was the first modern who introduced the way of Epis- 
tolary Writing, and of Meditations ; the former of which 
gave such a character afterwards to Balzac, and the latter 
to Mr. Boyle, not to speak of those puerile trifles, the Medi- 
tations of James Hervey. 

There is great learning and fancy in all his writings. But 
the disorders of the times broke his spirits and prevented 
his being altogether what might have been expected from 
his first essays and compositions. He was a very pious, de- 
vout, and for the times a moderate divine ; as may appear 
from his being with Laud on the one hand, and the Sectaries 
on the other. He was one of the principal assertors of 
Episcopacy, and therefore drew upon him the invectives of 
Milton, who treated him with the malignity peculiar to that 
poet's nature, and with a contempt which his controversial 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



237 



writings on that subject did not deserve. In a word, he 
was a learned man, a fine genius, and an exemplary bishop.* 

BISHOP WILKINS. 

A divine of acknowledged learning and ability. He was 
bred among those who had at least a leaning towards the 
Puritans, and on taking holy orders was made Chaplain to 
Lord Say. All this prepares us to expect that, on the break- 
ing out of the Civil War, he would join the Parliament- 
party, and take the Covenant and, after, the Engagement. 
In 1656 he married a sister of Oliver Cromwell. In all this 
we acquiesce. But immediately on the Restoration we hear 
of his being preferred, and made Bishop of Chester in 1668. 
Does not this look as if he had no principle, or held none, 
but that of siding with the party that was uppermost? Yet he 
must have possessed many virtues to gain the friendship and 
esteem to that degree he did of such men as Lloyd, Burnet, 
and Tillotson. What recommended him much to them, we 
may suppose, was his moderation in politics and religion. 
Still there hangs a shade on his character, and the darker 
when we reflect that he was promoted to his bishopric by 
the Duke of Buckingham. 

Dr. Wilkins and his friend Dr. Wallis seem to have 
acted on the same system, i. e. to make the best of the times 
they lived in, and to conform to every system of polity or 
religion that was uppermost ; but in so prudent a manner, 
as to be ready and able to take advantage of any other 
change that might happen. 

In general, these mathematico-philosophical theologians 

* " Mr. Charles Yorke spent the Christmas with us. I read to 
him your fine account of Bishop Hall, which pleased him extremely." 
(Warburton to Hurd, Letter li., Jan. 15, 1753.) 



238 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



are not so compounded as to make martyrs or confessors. 
Yet the Immortal Barrow must be excepted. 

LORD CLARENDON. 

This great man had been vilely used by his master, as 
as well as others : and that usage merited his resentment. 
But he expresses too much concern for the loss of his place 
and dignity in the continuation of his Life and History. 
All that can be said for him is, that he who looked up 
with so much reverence, and that upon principle, to the 
Throne, could not but set an undue value upon all subor- 
dinate approaches in rank and office towards it. So wise a 
man should have been less surprised at a change of fortune ; 
and so good a man should have felt it with less emotion. 
But with all his virtues, which were transcendent, his three 
acquiescences, at Jersey, Madrid, and Montpelier, which had 
taught him so many good things, had not, it seems, taught 
him tjiat degree of apathy, or rather moderation. 

Lord Clarendon's style is verbose, careless, and frequently 
even perplexed. Yet, with all these faults, there is so 
much life and vigour in his conceptions, and in his expres- 
sion of them, and he everywhere discovers such a purity of 
mind and dignity of moral sentiment, that few writers in 
the English language give the reader more pleasure. 

DUC DE ROCHEFOUCAULT. 

Men of calm passions are they who have the surest and 
most perfect insight into human nature. Of these one of 
the most celebrated is the Due de Rochefoucault; and of 
him Madame de Sevigne, who knew him long and well, says, 
" Quant a M. de la Rochefoucault, il alloit, comme un 
enfant, revoir Yerteuil, et les lieux ou il avoit chasse avec 
tant de plaisir; je ne dis pas, oil il a ete amoureux, car je 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



239 



ne crois pas que ce qui s'appelle amoureux; il l'ait jamais 
ete." (Tom. iv. p. 257.) 

Such a man has nothing to obstruct or disturb his view 
of human characters : he sees them in their true proportions, 
and in a steady light ; not distorted or discoloured, as they 
easily are, when contemplated through the shifting and 
turbid mists of passion. Hence it is not enough to qualify 
a man to be a just inspector of human life that he has a 
clear and penetrating understanding: this will frequently 
fail him in the closet, and perpetually in the practice of the 
world, if his temperament be not cool and staid. The ad- 
vantage of this last qualification is so great that where it is 
possessed in an eminent degree it wants the assistance of 
but moderate parts : whereas the brightest and the strongest, 
when united, as they commonly are, with ardent affections, 
are liable, at every turn, to be dazzled and misled. This 
observation accounts for a remarkable fact, " That, in every 
profession and in every government, those who succeed best 
are generally men of the second rate for their parts and 
sense ; such men having light enough to see their way, and 
no fumes of affection to divert them from the direct prose- 
cution of it." Instances are innumerable in all history; 
take that of the Due de Kochefoucault's contemporaries, 
Cardinal Mazarin and Cardinal de Retz. 



DESCARTES. 

The Queen of the South came from the uttermost parts of 
the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. This was no ordi- 
nary enterprise ; but less strange than that Descartes should 
take a journey from Egmond to Stockholm for the sake of 
displaying his wisdom before the conceited, capricious, and 
fantastic Queen of the Xorth. But the French philosopher's 
vanity was to be gratified at any rate. What he suffered 
from his five o'clock morning lectures in such a climate, 



240 SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HTJRD'S 



from the little capacity, indocility, neglect, and perhaps 
contempt of his royal pupil does not appear. What we cer- 
tainly know is, that he lost his life, and not a little of his 
reputation, by this adventure. 

MR. ABRAHAM COWLEY. 

To speak of this neglected writer, as a poet. He had a 
quick and ready conception ; the true enthusiasm of genius, 
and vast materials, with which learning as well as fancy had 
supplied him for it to work upon. He had besides a pro- 
digious command of expression, had a natural and copious 
flow of eloquence on every occasion, and understood our lan- 
guage in all its force and energy. Yet betwixt the native 
exuberance of his wit, which hurried him frequently on con- 
ceits, and the epidemical contagion of that time, which pos- 
sessed all writers with the love of points, of affected turns, 
and hard unnatural allusion, there are few of his poems 
which a man of just taste will read with admiration, or even 
with pleasure. Some few there are and enough to save his 
name from oblivion, or rather to consecrate it, with those of 
the master spirits of our country, to immortality. I would 
chiefly mention The Complaint, The Hymn to Light, and 
The Ode to the Royal Society. The first and last are of the 
Pindaric kind, and, I think, well deserve the character 
given them by Mr. W[aller] of being better than his master's. 
The plan and ordonnance of the first is most masterly, in- 
deed equal to any thing of any writer in that way ; but both 
are executed greatly. The Hymn to Light is thick set with 
poetic beauties, and is besides enriched with a vein of 
moral sentiment, the language of the heart, superior to all 
poetry. In his other things, though there are passages we 
must approve, yet in general they are composed in a 
manner vastly below what we should expect from these spe- 
cimens of his genius and ability. On the whole, he is a re- 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



241 



markable instance of the hurt which immoderate praise does 
to a poet. His prodigious wit made him excessively ad- 
mired in his own time, but, being in a false taste, that ad- 
miration could not last ; and it is the humour of mankind to 
revenge themselves on a great writer who has engrossed more 
fame than he deserved, by denying him his due when his 
proper value comes to be once discovered. 



HUET. 

This very learned man, as I collect from his own account 
of himself in Comment, de rebus ad eum pertinentibus, had a 
good deal of trifling vanity mixed with his fine qualities. 
His supreme pleasure was, to be courted and complimented 
by the learned of his time. His passion for study was 
extreme ; which made him apply to almost all sorts of learn- 
ing in their turn. Or perhaps it was owing to a levity of 
temper that he changed the object of his studies so fre- 
quently. We find him constantly devoting himself to that 
science for which his latest acquaintance was most famous. 
Hence he was mathematician, astronomer, critic, divine, 
belles-lettres man, every thing according to the company he 
kept. But his leading passion, and that which stuck to him 
to the last, was Latin poetry. This indeed was, in good 
measure, the passion of the time. His genius, I suspect, 
was more brilliant than solid. Or, perhaps, if he had con- 
fined himself to one sort of learning, he might have con- 
sulted his glory more, though it is certain he would have 
gratified his vanity less* 



242 SELECTIONS EROM BISHOP HURD's 



JOHN LOCKE. 

The affectation of passing for an original thinker glares 
strongly and ridiculously in Mr. Locke. Who sees not that 
a great part of his Essay on Man is taken from Hobbes? and 
almost everything in his Letters on Toleration from Bayle? 
Yet he no where makes the least acknowledgment of his 
obligations to either of those writers. They were both of 
them indeed writers of ill fame. But was that a reason for 
his taking no notice of them ? He might have distinguished 
between their good and ill deserts. 

Candour, and a perfect indifference to contradiction in 
the pursuit and love of truth, are in vain pretended to by 
learned men. We shall not easily find one of these, more dis- 
passionate or less bigoted to his own opinions than our 
philosopher Mr. Locke. At least, no one talked more of his 
unprejudiced search of truth, or vaunted of a greater freedom 
and liberality of mind in all his inquiries, than he. Yet it 
is clear enough that the obsequious and adulatory assent of 
Molyneux and Collins was far more agreeable to this free 
reasoner, than the well-tempered and perhaps solid objections 
of Limborch and his Vir Magnificus. 

" Mr. Locke cared not for sermons." So Mr. Collins told 
Mr. Locke's cousin, King. (Works, vol. iii. fol. p. 740.) 
This was the dignity of the philosopher, who read, we may 
suppose, for instruction in speculative truths* not for edifica- 
tion in practical ones ; — no rule for us common Christians. 
But we must not understand Mr. Collins (who himself* with* 
out doubt, was no sermon-reader, nor indeed very long a 
reader of his friend Mr. Locke,) too strictly. Mr. Locke was 
too wise to give himself these airs. He would have thought 
it no disparagement to his philosophic character to read 
now and then, without disgust, a sermon of Barrow, or even 
his friend Tillotson. Nay it appears that he did so* by the 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



243 



esteem lie expresses of those preachers in p. 753. So that, 
after all, with Mr. Collins's leave, we may conclude that, by 
not caring for sermons, Mr. Locke only meant to signify his 
little regard for those slight pulpit harangues in which some 
preachers undertook to confute a work of so much thought 
and research as his then decried Essay on the Human Un- 
derstanding. 

BISHOP BURNET. 

We are apt to mistake, or dissemble at least, even to our- 
selves, our true principles of action. Bishop Burnet pro- 
fesses to write his " History of his Own Time" for public 
ends, pro bono publico. This might be one inducement; 
but who sees not that the main motive for engaoino; in that 
work was a love of prate, a busy, meddling humour to pry 
into State secrets, and the vanity of disclosing the part which 
he had, or fancied he had, in them? He had sense and 
honesty ; but was warped in his judgment of men and things, 
as most men are, by strong prejudices, and a heat of temper 
that sometimes looks fanatical. As a writer, he is not very 
respectable. A vague, general, indistinct expression, and a 
slovenly neglect of grammar make the reading of his works 
uninstructing and unpleasant. He neither informs us 
clearly and precisely, nor entertains us agreeably. He 
wrote too much and too hastily to write well. The noble 
author of the History of the Grand Rebellion, it maybe said, 
had some, if not all, of these faults. He had so : but he had 
a genius, and penetration, and knowledge of the world, 
which do not appear, or very imperfectly, in the prelate. 



R 2 



SELECTIONS PEOM BISHOP HTJRD's 



ADDISON, POPE, SWIFT, &c. 

Of these three writers, Pope had more wit than humour, 
Addison more humour than wit. Swift had an equal share 
of both; but his wit was less poignant than Pope's, and 
his humour far less elegant than Addison's. 

I have observed that Pope had more wit than humour — 
indeed he had little or nothing of this last quality, as may- 
be seen by his papers on the Short Club in the Guardian, 
June 25 and 26, 1713, and his letter to Swift, Dec. 8, 
1713, published by Lord Orrery. Mr. Addison's talent in 
this mode of writing seems to have excited his emulation, 
but without success. He saw this, and made, I think, no 
more attempts at humour. 

The only Scotch writer that appears to have excelled in 
humour is Dr. Arbuthnot. I was acquainted with the late 
Dk. Beattie of Aberdeen. He wrote English better than 
any other of his countrymen, and had formed his style and 
manner of composition on our Addison ; but what he ad- 
mired in him was his tuneful prose and elegant expression : 
He had no notion of that writer's original and inimitable 
humour. 

I know not whether to impute this defect to the serious 
and argumentative turn of that people, or to the little ac- 
quaintance they seem to have with what we call life and 
manners. 

I have lived to see the day when some have called in 
question the claim of Addison to be a good writer in prose^ 
and of Pope to be a good poet. With the same discern- 
ment and good taste some, we know, have censured the 
"inanity" and "smooth verbosity " of Cicero; and Bavius 
and Maevius, without doubt, accounted Virgil a bad poet. 



C03DI0\"PLACE BOOK. 



215 



INSCRIPTION TO MR. ADDISON, 

-""BITTEN IX 1805. 

Exiniio viro 
JOSEPHO ADDISON : 
gratia, fania, fortuna commendato ; 
huinanioribus literis unice instructo : 
hand ignobili poetas ; 
in oratione soluta contexenda 
suninio artifici ; 
censori moruni 
gravi sane sed et perjucundo, 
levioribus in argninentis 
snbridenti suaviter, 
res etiam serias 
lepore quodam sno contingenti ; 
pietatis porrb sine era?, 
hoc est Christianas, 
fide, vita, scriptis 
studiosissimo cultori : 
exiinio proinde viro, 
JOSEPHO ADDISOX, 
hoc monument um sacrum esto. 

(Bishop Hurd's Commonplace Book.) 



VOLTAIRE. 

I transcribed the following letter of Voltaire [to Mr. 
Pope] from the original in the hands of Dr. Macro of 
Xorton, near Bury, in Suffolk: — 

" Sie, — j hear this moment of your sad adventure, 
that water you fell in was not hippocrene's water, other- 
■wise it would have respected you. indeed j am concerned 
beyond expression for the danger you have been in, and 
more for your wounds, is it possible that those fingers 
which have written the rape of the lock and the criticism, 
which have dressed homer so becomingly in an English 
coat, should have been so barbarously treated, let the 



246 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



hand of Dennis or of your poetasters be cut off. your is 
sacred, j hope, Sir, you are perfectly recovered, rely 
your accident concerns me as much as all the disasters of a 
master ought to affect his scholar, j am sincerely, Sir, with 
the admiration which you deserve, your most humble 
Servant, Voltaire. 

" in my Lord Bolingbroke's house, friday at noon." 

It appears from a letter of Mr. Pope to Dr. Swift [see 
Letter XIX. vol. ix. of Dr. Warburton's ed.] that the acci- 
dent which occasioned this boyish compliment of Voltaire 
happened in the year 1726. See the account of the acci- 
dent in note to that letter. [Note by Bishop Hurd.] 

DR. CONYERS MIDDLETON. 
A man of real taste and politeness. His Life of Cicero 
will live to do him honour when his other works are for- 
gotten. 

As to those other works, his Miscellaneous, I mean, of 
which we have an edition in four volumes 4to., they are 
generally entertaining and always elegant. His controver- 
sial tracts on religion make the greatest part of them, but 
not the best, for in his character of a divine (which he 
affected) he is for the most part slight and superficial, trust- 
ing rather to what his good sense suggested to him than to 
a knowledge of the Scriptures and an accurate investiga- 
tion of his subject. What was worst of all, from an early 
disgust he had taken at some Churchmen, and perhaps from 
an idle, not to say criminal, desire of being popular, he is 
not unfrequently licentious. 

MASON. 

The Rev. William Mason, Residentiary and Precentor of 
York, and rector of Aston near Rotherham, died April 5, 
1797. I had known him from a youth at St. John's Col- 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



247 



lege, Cambridge, where he was educated under my worthy 
friend Mr. Powell.* Our friendship continued through 
life. With many other virtues he possessed a fine genius 
for poetry, and was indeed the best poet of his time, as 
appears from his Works of that sort published by himself at 
different times in three volumes. He also wrote the Lives 
of his two ingenious friends and mine, Mr. Gray and Mr. 
Whitehead. The last production of his pen was an Ode 
formed upon the 28th chapter of the Book of Job, of which 
he printed a few copies. One of these he sent to me a few days 
before his death, with a friendly dedication to me prefixed. 
It is called in the title-page a private copy, for he intended 
not to publish it, at least at that time, but to present it to 
some select friends. He had entered into his 72nd year on 
the 23rd of February last, yet this lyrical composition is not 
inferior in merit to any others he had ever produced. 

With a taste for all the polite arts, and with no small 
proficiency in them, he was an excellent parish priest, and 
will be long remembered with respect and veneration at 
Aston, where he usually resided, and where he died. He 
took much delight in that place, and built an excellent house 
upon it. The garden about it was not large, but laid out 
with that taste which was to be expected from the author of 
" The English Garden." Vale, amicissime ! K. W. 1797. 

Lines written on hearing that a good medallion of Mr. 
Mason had been put up on his monument in Westminster 
Abbey, 1800: the sculptor Mr. Bacon. 

What sculpture could achieve we here behold : 
The Poet's feature is express'd in stone ; 

In his own polish' d verse the rest is told, 
There only may the Poet's mind be known. 

I wrote the inscription on his monument, at the request 
of his executors. It is in Latin, and runs thus: 

* See pp. 51 and 93. 



248 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HUKO'S 



Optimo Viro 
GULIELMO MASON, A.M. 
Poetae, 
si quis alius, 
culto, casto, pio 
sacrum. 

HEBERDEN. 

William Heberden, M.D. ob. Maii 16, 1801. 
Vir optime, 
amice dilectissime, 
medicas artis longo usu peritissime, 
Vale! 

[Of this old and valued friend (the " virtuous and faith- 
ful Heberden " of Cowper,) Bishop Hurd, in a note to his 
Life of Warburton speaks more at large, as follows :] 

Dr. Heberden nourished at Cambridge in great reputation 
for several years, and then removed to London. He has 
now (1794) for some time past declined all business; but 
through the whole course of his practice was the most 
esteemed of any physician I have known ; not only for his 
skill, but generosity in the exercise of his profession. My 
own personal obligations to him must be my excuse for the 
liberty I take in paying this small tribute of respect to his 
merit and character* [Life of Warburton, p. 67.] 

EDMUND MALONE. 

" Essence of Malone/'* in two parts, 1800, 1801, a lively 
piece of raillery, well applied; and more extensive in its 
use than the title may lead one to expect. For in Malone 
was exhibited the character of all our dull and tasteless Life 

* This work was by Mr. George Hardinge. See Nichols's Literary 
Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 19. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



249 



writers, editors, and critics for half a century past. It is, in 
effect, a new Dunciad, in prose. 

WAKBURTON AND LOWTH. 

See Life of Warburton, p. 94. Dr. Lowth's friends 
affected to bring his merits into competition with those of 
Warburton ; but there was no relation of equality, or even 
likeness, in their talents, to be the ground of such a compe- 
tition. Warburton had that eagle-eyed sagacity, which 
pierces through all difficulties and obscurities ; and that glow 
of imagination which gilds and irradiates every object it 
touches : Lowth had the amiable accomplishments of a man 
of parts and a scholar; but in no transcendent degree of 
eminence in either character-* 

I have been invited, (but civilly they say,) in a printed 
letter, addressed to me, to enter into controversy with a 
Mr. Wintle f of Oxford, concerning the harmless characters 
given in pages 82 and 94 of two respectable prelates. I 
must decline, but civilly, this invitation, for two reasons: 
first, because the question, if it be one, is a question of 
taste, about which the proverb says there is no disputing ; 
secondly, because the question is (with all respect be it said) 

* Quoted above, pp. 182-3. 

f " A Letter to the Lord Bishop of Worcester, occasioned by the 
Strictures on Archbishop Seeker and Bishop Lowth in his Life of 
Bishop Warburton," 1798, by the Rev. Thomas Wintle, Fellow of 
Pembroke College, Oxford, Bampton Lecturer, and Chaplain to Arch- 
bishop Seeker. Mr. Nichols says of this work : " The Letter to 
Bishop Hurd is an animated defence of two very eminent characters 
of the present century, whom Bishop Warburton's Biographer seems 
to have sacrificed with too little feeling to the Manes of his friend, 

whose opinions they did not implicitly follow This letter 

is couched in modest though warm terms, and does no discredit to the 
Academic, or his Alma Mater." (Illustrations of the Literary History 
of the Eighteenth Century, vol. iii. p. 499.) 



250 SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HUKD's 



a frivolous one; and to dispute of sucli is nugis addere 
pondus. 

GIBBON". 

The author of the History of the Decline, &c., appears to 
have possessed a considerable share of sense, ingenuity, and 
knowledge of his subject, together with great industry. 
But these qualities or talents are disgraced, — by a false taste 
of composition, which prompts him continually to employ a 
verbose, inflated style, in order to obtain the praise of force 
and energy, — by a perpetual affectation of wit, irony, and 
satire, altogether unsuited to the historic character, — and, 
what is worse, by a freetliinking , licentious spirit, which 
spares neither morals nor religion, and must make every 
honest man regard him as a bad citizen and pernicious 
writer. 

All these miscarriages may be traced up to one common 
source, an excessive vanity. 

The above-mentioned E. G. declaims as loudly as any 
against the present Jacobins. "With how ill a grace ! when 
he and his associates had been labouring, for half a century 
past, to poison the minds of the people with their free 
writings on government and religion, and to dispose them 
to pay no regard either to God or man. What could 
follow, but that spirit of anarchy which is now spreading 
through all Europe, and indeed over the whole globe? 

I write this in 1797. 

[The latter paragraph apparently added afterwards. — Ed.] 

WILLIAM ROSCOE. 

The Life of Lorenzo de" Medici is said to be by William 
Koscoe, an attorney at Liverpool. Be that as it may, he 
is ingenious and learned; at least he appears well versed 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



251 



in the literature of Italy in the 15th century, with the 
splendour of which (or of the accomplishments of his 
favourite, Lorenzo the Magnificent,) he is so much dazzled 
as to be almost blind to its faults, though of the first mag' 
nitude and malignancy, — faction, revenge, cruelty, and a 
total want, or contempt rather, of moral and religious prin- 
ciples. 

He writes in an easier style (though not without affecta- 
tion) and is more decent in his narrative than Gibbon ; still 
he is of that school, and appears to have taken him for 
his model, so fine a thing it seems to our present compilers 
of history to have, and to profess to have, no religion. As 
to politics, he outruns his original, and is for liberty in its 
widest range, or what the French call Jacobinical. But, 
what then? The abundant crop of orators, statesmen, and 
heroes, that spring up in a (mob) government, such as that 
of Florence and of Athens, the study of the fine arts, and a 
paganised or atheistic philosophy, are to make amends for 
all other defects, and to put us out of conceit with order, 
plain sense, and Christianity. 

ON SOME LATE HISTORIANS. 

Teach me, Historic Muse, to mix 

Impiety with politics, 

So shall I write, nil aliud posco, 

Like my lov'd Gibbon, Hume, and Roscoe. 

DIALOGUES. 

Plans of one or two. 

1. A Dialogue may be formed between Lord Clarendon, 
Lord Capel, Lord Hopton, and Sir George Carteret. Scene, 
the Isle of Jersey — walking upon the sands in the evening, 
as they were wont. (See Life of Earl of Clarendon, vol. i. 
p. 200.) The subject, "The improbity and disingenuity of 



252 



SELECTIONS EROM BISHOP HUKD's 



mankind, or the great importance of a Knowledge of the 
World," gathered from some hints in the third volume of the 
Earl of Clarendon's Life, p. 976, &c. The characters of 
Capel, Hopton, and Carteret to be drawn agreeably to the 
representation given of them by the Earl in his History of 
the Eebellion. 

This to be further thought of. 

The use of this Dialogue may be to warn against a too 
credulous simplicity on the one hand, and a settled misan- 
thropy on the other. Ingenuous minds are liable to the 
first infirmity on their entrance into life, and apt to be 
transported with the opposite vice on the discovery of that 
weakness. The leisure the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
had in this retreat to correct his former easiness, and to 
make such reflections as secured him from the moroseness 
of an intolerant virtue. 

The genius of the Dialogue calm, moral, instructive; not 
disputative or controversial; the end, a reasonable opinion 
to be taken up, not a question to be casuistically discussed. 

2. Another Dialogue may be contrived on the uses of 
Travel, between the famous Earl of Shaftesbury and Mr. 
Locke. The Earl to defend travelling from the practice of 
the ancients, of the moderns in Queen Elizabeth's time, 
from the nature of the thing, removing prejudices, forming 
the manners, knowledge of the world, and other current 
and fashionable topics. Mr. Locke to dispute against it by 
detecting the reasons of that ancient and modern practice 
which are now ceased, the authority of Socrates, and the 
example of many of the ablest and wisest men of our own 
country, the inconveniences of it with regard to morals, 
religion, knowledge, &c. Polite arts, whether worth tra- 
velling for at the expense of better things. Manners uniform 
all over Europe — as well learned at home. Only foundation 
in fashion, — this accounted for. 

Lord Shaftesbury's pert, lively, sometimes declamatory, 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



253 



sometimes ironical; Mr. Locke's grave, moral, and authori- 
tative, from his great age and experience. 

The scene and time to be thought of, and fixed from 
looking into the lives of both. The Dialogue may be ad- 
dressed to Mr. Molesworth, (see Lord Shaftesbury's Letters 
to him,) or he may be one of the dialogists himself; his age 
and the circumstances of his life to be considered. 

Quaere, what books have been written pro and con. on 
this argument? 

Mr. Locke a fit person to inveigh against travelling, as he 
had lived much abroad himself, had been tutor to Lord 
Shaftesbury, had written on Education, &c. 

I have not his book on education by me. Q. what he 
says of travelling, in that work? Whether his declared senti- 
ments are agreeable to this plan ? This must be thought of. 

Mr. Locke was fond of voyages, and writ the preface to 
Churchill's Collection, and made great use of them, chiefly of 
those into very remote parts where the manners and customs 
differ widely from our own. All this may be reconciled. 
He may approve of travel into those countries where human 
nature is to be seen in new and different lights, especially 
by capable and discerning persons; but all this proves no- 
thing in favour of the modern way of travelling into the 
neighbouring countries of Europe by raw inexperienced 
youths, as a part of education. 

For Lord Shaftesbury's notion of travelling, and his idea 
of the uses of it, see Characteristics, pp. 135, 6, 7, 8, 9, 140 
of vol. iii. — has favourable notions of the Popes from their 
patronage of the fine arts, p. 216, — requires a knowledge of 
the world in a writer, p. 221 , — his notion of writing Dialogue j 
p. 256, — his reason why it is difficult to make it seem 
natural to our countrymen, if carried to any length upon 
a serious subject, pp. 258 and 261, — owns that men used to 
slavery admire their condition — this may be applied to the 
French, and to the danger of travelling much into the 



254 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



quarters of the politer and more civilized tyrannies, p. 278, — 
his notion of French and Italian writers, vol. i. p. 299, — of 
Universities, p. 300 and 110, — of the influence which the 
women have upon the public taste, p. 246. — The Gallant's 
Answer applied to Travel. 

See what he says of the usage of " Anacharsis and others 
by the Scythians, for having visited the wise of Greece, and 
learnt the manners of a polite people." This may receive a 
pleasant application when Mr. Locke is inveighing against 
travelling to France, &c. vol. i. p. 78. 

His notion of that excellent school the world, vol. i. p. 300. 

See Erasmus on the uses of Travel, Jortin's App. p. 474. 

BOSWELL. 

His Life of Samuel Johnson exhibits a striking likeness of 
a confident, over-weening, dictatorial pedant, though of 
parts and learning; and of a weak, shallow, submissive 
admirer of such a character, deriving a vanity from that 
very admiration. 

LORD MANSFIELD. 

[Although the following character of his great patron is 
printed in Bishop Hurd*s Life of Warburton, prefixed to the 
4to. edition of his Works, yet as that masterly and elegant 
biographical sketch has never been reprinted, and is conse- 
quently little known h the Editor has judged it right to give 
the character a place among the Bishop's other productions 
of the same class.] 

Mr. Murray, afterwards Earl of Mansfield and Lord 
Chief Justice of England, was so extraordinary a person, and 
made so great a figure in the world, that his name must go 
down to posterity with distinguished honour in the public 
records of the nation; for his shining talents displayed 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



255 



themselves in every department of the State, as well as in 
the supreme court of justice, his peculiar province; which 
he filled with a lustre of reputation not equalled perhaps, 
certainly not exceeded, by that of any of his predecessors. 

Of his conduct in the House of Lords I can speak with 
the more confidence, because I speak from my own observa- 
tion. Too good to be the leader, and too able to be the dupe 
of any party, he was believed to speak his own sense of 
public measures; and the authority of his judgment was so 
high, that, in regular times, the House was usually deter- 
mined by it. He was no forward or frequent speaker; but 
reserved himself, as was -fit, for occasions worthy of him. 
In debate he was eloquent as well as wise; or rather, he 
became eloquent by his wisdom. His countenance and tone 
of voice imprinted the ideas of penetration, probity, and can- 
dour; but what secured your attention and assent to all he 
said, was his constant good sense, flowing in apt terms, and 
the clearest method. He affected no sallies of the imagina- 
tion, or bursts of passion; much less would he condescend 
to personal abuse, or petulant altercation. All was clear, 
candid reason, letting itself so easily into the minds of his 
hearers as to carry information and conviction with it. In 
a word, his public senatorial character resembled very much 
that of Messala, of whom Cicero says, addressing liimself to 
Brutus : — ,; Do not imagine, Brutus, that for worth, honour j 
and a warm love of his country, any one is comparable to 
Messala; so that his eloquence, in which he wonderfully 
excels, is almost eclipsed by those virtues. And even in his 
display of that faculty, his superior good sense shows itself 
most : with so much care and skill hath he formed himself 
to the truest manner of speaking ! His powers of genius 
and invention are confessedly of the first size ; yet he almost 
owes less to them than to the diligent and studious cultiva- 
tion of his judgment/' (Cicero to Brutus, i. 15.) 

In the commerce of private life he was easy, friendly, and 



256 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



agreeable, extremely sensible of merit in other men, and 
ready on all occasions to countenance and produce it. From 
his early youth he had attracted the notice, and obtained 
the friendship and applause, of our great poet.* 

WILLIAM MURRAY, 
Earl of Mansfield, and Lord Chief Justice of England, 

Justus, Facundus, Sapiens, 
et suadere leges et administrare 
sic ut nemo fere alter 
instructus. 

Buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Here Murray, long enough his country's pride, 
Shall be no more than Tully or than Hyde. 

Pope. 

To be inscribed on a tablet under a bust f of Lord Mans- 
field: 

Just, Eloquent, Wise. 
Reader, 
these are not words of course ; 
the virtues they imply 
shone out in the whole life 
of this great 
Magistrate, Senator, and Statesman. 

* See Pope's Imitations of Horace, b. i. epist. 6, To Mr. Murray. 
Bishop Warburton in his note on 1. 3 of this epistle says : — " The 
Poet had all the warmth of affection for the great Lawyer to whom it 
is addressed : and indeed no man ever more deserved to have a poet 
for his friend. In the obtaining of which, as neither vanity, party, nor 
fear had any share, so he supported his title to it by all the offices Of 
true friendship." 

f In the Library of Hartlebury Castle. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



257 



Or in Latin thus: 

Justus, Facundus, Sapiens. 
Lector, 
niagnifica hasc verba 
in aliorum, credo, inscripta vidisti monumentis ; 
sed virtutes quas adumbrant 
in hoc vivo et spirante 
vere extitisse 
non est, opinor, ut dubitare possis. 

JOSEPH MEDE. 

[The same apology which was made for the introduction 
of the last character may serve for that of the present also. 
It is from the tenth Sermon of the Bishop's " Introduction 
to the Prophesies."] 

A sublime genius arose in the beginning of the last cen- 
tury who surprised the learned world with that great desi- 
deratum a Key to the Kevelations. This extraordinary 
person was Joseph Mede, of whose character it may not be 
improper to give a slight sketch before I lay before you the 
substance of his discoveries. 

He was a candid, sincere man, disinterested and unam- 
bitious, of no faction in Religion or government, (both 
which began in his time to be overrun with factions,) but 
solely devoted to the love of truth, and to the investigation 
of it. His learning was vast, but well chosen and well di- 
gested, and his understanding in no common degree strong 
and capacious. 

With these qualities of the head and heart he came to 
the study of the Prophesies, and especially of the Kevela- 
tions; but with so little bigotry for the scheme of interpre- 
tation concerning Antichrist that, as he tells us himself, he 
had even conceived some prejudice against it; and, what is 
stranger still in a man of his inventive genius, with so little 
enthusiasm in his temper for any scheme of interpretation 

S 



258 [bishop hukd's commonplace book. 



whatsoever, that when he had made his great discovery 
he was in no haste to publish it to the world; and, when 
at length he did this, he was still less in haste to apply it, 
that is, to shew its important use in explaining the Apoca- 
lyptic visions. Cool, deliberate, and severe, in forming 
his judgments, he was so far from being obsequious to the 
fancies of other men, that he was determined only by the 
last degree of evidence to acquiesce in any conclusions of 
his own. 

In short, with no vanity to indulge, (for he was superior 
to this last infirmity of ingenious men,) with no interest in 
view, (for the interest of Churchmen lay at that time, as he 
well understood, in a different quarter,) with no spleen to 
gratify, (for even neglect and solitude could not engender 
this unmanly vice in him,) with no oblique purposes, I say, 
which so often mislead the pens of other writers, but with 
the single, unmixed love of truth, he dedicated his great 
talents to the study of the prophetic Scriptures, and was 
able to unfold in the manner I am now to represent to you 
this mysterious prophesy of the Kevelations.* 

* Mr. Green says of this fine character that it is "in every respect, 
in sublimity of conception, in felicity, force, and grandeur of expres- 
sion> worthy of Burke." (Diary of a Lover of Literature, p. 164.) 



II. EXTRACTS. 



1. THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

On tliis subject I know of nothing so precise and accu- 
rate (though numberless and vast volumes have been written 
upon it from the Reformation downwards,) as what is con- 
tained in Dr. Barrow's Discourses on Faith.* (Works, fol. 
vol. ii.) His notion on the whole is, that Justification, as 
used by the sacred writers, and St. Paul in particular, 
means remission of sins, and admission into a state of favour 
with God, as if we were righteous, and not the infusion of 
inherent holiness by the Spirit; that this justification was 
primarily made on our entrance into the Christian covenant 
by baptism, and is afterwards renewed and regranted, as it 
were, on our repentance and return from such transgressions 
as we may have fallen into after baptism. (See particularly 
Sermons iiii. and v. of that vol., and Sermon xxvii.p. 392.) 

EXPERIENCE. 

They who disbelieve the miracles of the Gospel on account 
of their contrariety to experience^ will do well to consider 
the following observation of Dr. Barrow (Sermon xxix); 
" He who doubts of the sincerity of these witnesses [of the 

* Barrow appears from the Bishop's Commonplace Book to have 
been his chief favourite among our great divines. 

s 2 



260 



SELECTIONS FORM BISHOP HURD 5 S 



Eesurrection of Jesus], or rejects their testimony as incre- 
dible, must instead of it admit of divers stranger incredibili- 
ties. Eefusing bis faitb to one fact [viz. the Eesurrection] 
devious from the natural course of things [i. e. from expe- 
rience], but very feasible to God, he must thence allow it to 
many others repugnant to the nature of man, and to the 
course of human things, performed without God, yea against 
him. It is credible, &c." to the end of this article, No. 14, 
in which he recapitulates all those repugnances and incredi- 
bilities which attend the denial of the Eesurrection. 

LIGHT OF NATURE. 

" Nature is no sufficient teacher what we should do that 
we may attain unto life everlasting." (Hooker, Eccles. Pol. 
book ii.) 

" The light of nature doth only direct unto duty, con- 
demning every man in his own judgment and conscience 
who transgresseth it; but as to pardon in case of transgres- 
sion, it is blind and silent." (Barrow, Sermon v.) 

So that, according to these two great divines, nature doth 
not teach everlasting life, nor even pardon of past sin on re* 
pentance. Bishop Warburton admits the assertion of Hooker, 
but denies that of Barrow. (See Letters to me, p. 314, 
P. S.) His notion is, that, upon sincere repentance and 
reformation former sin is forgiven, but that life eternal does 
not of course follow such forgiveness. The reward of nature 
is one thing, that of grace another. (See Divine Legation, 
b. ix.) 

INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY. 

The purpose of all books written to expound and apply 
the unfulfilled prophesies, such as those of Mede, Fraser, 
&c, is to discover their true sense, i. e. the sense intended 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



261 



by tlie inspired writers, or at least by the Spirit that in- 
spired those writers. But that sense may be figuratively or 
literally expressed; that is, the object may be either tem- 
poral or spiritual (for the prophetic language is so con- 
trived as to express both). It was natural enough for the 
envelope of the prophecies to suggest temporal ideas, being- 
addressed chiefly to the Jews, who were immoderately ad- 
dicted to the conceit and expectation of temporal prosperity. 
But the genius of Christianity, which is bent every where 
on discrediting and beating down the value of things present 
and temporal, leads one rather to the expectation of a spi- 
ritual sense being intended. Some may extend this obser- 
vation as far as to the Battle of Armageddon — the restoration 
of the Jews — the Millennium, &c; so that, on the whole, we 
may perhaps say of all, or the most of, unaccomplished pro- 
phecies, that their true sense cannot be ascertained before 
the event. At least the application of them should, in all 
prudence, be made with some degree of hesitancy, or rather 
with great caution. When I read the best interpreters on 
the subject of the Battle of Armageddon, and Gog and Magog, 
I am tempted to address them in the words of Milton 
(Paradise Lost, xii. 386) — 

Dream not of their fight 
As of a duel, or the local wounds 
Of head or heel : not therefore joins the Son 
Manhood to Godhead, with more strength to foil 
Thy enemy ; &c. 

If the Battle of the Angels, in the sixth book of Paradise 
Lost, had been described in the Jewish Prophets (as their 
language is not unlike) should wc have understood them as 
speaking of a real battle ? Or should we not rather have 
supposed that they meant only to contrast the good angels 
to bad, i. e. Faith, Keligion, Virtue, to Disbelief, Irreligion, 
Vice? In other words, would the contrast have been un- 



262 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



derstood literally or figuratively, in a temporal and carnal, 
or spiritual and moral sense?* 

CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

A clear and succinct account of the Eeformed Church of 
England, as established by law, is given by Dr. Heylin in 
his Introduction to the History of Archbishop Laud; and 
also of the changes afterwards made, or attempted to be 
made, in it, by the Puritan and Presbyterian factions. The 
idea of the Church of England and its principles, as enter- 
tained by the first reformers, and carried into effect by 
Edward and Elizabeth, was this, that it should be fashioned 
agreeably to the Holy Scriptures and primitive antiquity. 
Upon this ground, without any regard to foreign authorities, 
i.e. those of Luther, Calvin, and others, the historian frames 
his defence of the Archbishop, and not unreasonably or unsuc- 
cessfully. Only the Archbishop's superstitious turn of mind 
prompted him to lay as much stress on some very ancient 
practices and opinions as if they had been expressly enjoined 
by Holy Scripture itself. Hence the ill-success of his well- 
meant endeavours, to which the temper of the times would 
not give way, and which it opposed as innovations, though 
designed only as returns to ancient usuage and established 
law. This whole Introduction of Dr. Heylin is well worthy 
of being carefully read and considered by all who would 
understand the constitution of the Church of England, and 
the controversies that have been carried on for three cen- 
turies past, and even in the present times, concerning eccle- 
siastical affairs. 

* This important passage was, from the handwriting, evidently 
written in advanced life, and is peculiarly valuable, as conveying the 
mature judgment of a diligent student and enlightened interpreter of 
the prophetic writings. — Ed. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



263 



SOCINIANISM 

I take to liave been the inlet to very much of that heresy, 
infidelity, and even atheism, which, to the consternation of 
thinking men, have overspread the Christian world in these 
days ; and of which an awful intimation seems to have been 
given by our blessed Lord himself in that prophetic ques- 
tion," When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith 
on the earth ?" 

RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 

They who have calm, cold, and sluggish affections, should 
endeavour to warm them by reading the Scriptures. If this 
expedient fail, I would not advise them to have recourse to 
the Masters of the Spiritual Life, as they are called, to en- 
liven their piety. For persons of that temperament will 
not, perhaps cannot, feel those flights and raptures, however 
well founded where the heart is more tender. Their efforts 
will probably end in hypocrisy or disappointment. Their 
better way, I think, will be, to study the evidences of true 
religion in sound reasoners on that subject, their conviction 
of which will produce a firm faith. And such a faith will 
have all the effects of love (though not so speedily or cer- 
tainly perhaps) in leading them to a good life, the end of 
true Christian religion, i.e. of true piety. The spiritual 
life of the pietist may be pleasanter and more rapturous, 
but will be equally solid in the rationalist, i.e. the be- 
liever, who is such on the grounds of fair reasonable in- 
quiry, and not of feelings and transports, of which his com- 
plexion may render him incapable. 

These thoughts occurred to me in reading the controversy 
betwixt Fenelon and Bossuet, the two heads of the French 
mystical and rational divines; men of undoubted piety, but 
of opposite constitutions. 



264 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD'S 



A trifling dispute about Quietism is made to read agree- 
ably, though drawn out to a great length, by the magic art 
of two such writers as Bossuet and Fenelon. What could 
they not do, or rather what have they not done, on more useful 
and important subjects? See UHisloire Universelle of the 
former, and Telemaque of the latter. 

RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM. 

A remarkable instance of it in what Q. Curtius, Justin, 
and Arrian relate of Alexander's army on their approach to 
the mountain of Nysa in India. The sight of its vines and 
ivy, and of the hill itself so famous for the birth and wor- 
ship of Bacchus, fired their imagination to that degree that 
they instantly became all Bacchanals, Baccliantibus similes. 
We see in the circumstances of this story a lively represen- 
tation of the manner in which the religious passion is raised. 
There might be something of natural efficacy in what the 
Scripture relates of Saul's prophesying on his approach to the 
Prophets of Naioth. Though here is one apparent differ- 
ence in the two cases. Alexander's army set out for Nysa 
with their minds full of the Bacchic rites and ceremonies, and 
in a disposition to receive the enthusiastic impression : Saul 
was in a very different humour, and set out with a deter- 
mined resolution not to be overcome by the prophetic rap- 
tures. But though Saul's prophesying was a supernatural 
effect, (as appears from its being predicted by Samuel as 
such,) yet nothing hinders but that something may be attri- 
buted to natural agency. When God is pleased to work a 
miracle, he does not preclude Himself from using natural 
means, as far as they will go. 

INFIDELS. 

As for those tribes of minute infidels, whether of the great 
vulgar or the small, which the fashion rather than philosophy 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



265 



of the age has generated, and sent forth in swaririS over a 
great part of modern Europe, I regard them but as the 
summer-flies, which may teaze ns a little by their murmur - 
ings, (for stings they have none,) bnt are easily silenced and 
brushed away, or soon perish of themselves. To speak the 
origin and fortune of these moral insects in one word — they 
spring out of the ferment of corrupted passions, buzz and 
sparkle awhile in the sunshine of favour, but when its 
fostering influence is withdrawn, betray their utter insigni- 
ficance, and know their place no more. 

The believers, on the other hand, may be compared to 
that matchless bird, which was formed, they say, to last for 
ages, and when, through length of time and other mortal 
accidents, it seems expiring, suddenly revives, and with new 
vigour spreads its elastic wings towards Heaven, and con- 
tinues its unwearied course as before. 

Indignation, I perceive, has for once almost made a poet 
of me. I check the licence of my pen, and conclude in the 
inspired words of truth and soberness, that all the devices of 
man presently come to nought, but that the word of God 
endureth for ever. 

ATHEISM AND SUPERSTITION. 

Equally the progeny of fear, or more properly of guilt, 
which engendereth fear. The difference is only this, Super- 
stition hopes to allay its fears by I know not what fond and 
frivolous expiations of the offended Deity. Atheism, as 
being of a sturdier make and disposition, would cut up all 
its fear by the roots by a bold denial of his existence. Fear 
makes the one childish, the other foolhardy. 

SCEPTICISM. 

Usually the effect of laziness, or an inability for want of 
logic, or a knowledge of the requisite principles, to form a 



266 SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



judgment of the merits of any question, and not of superior 
sagacity or unbiassed candour. The picture Plato draws of 
the hearers of Socrates, in the Phaedo, is a natural one. They 
had acquiesced in the reasonings of this philosopher concern- 
ing the immortality of the soul ; but on attending to some 
puzzling objections against them, which they saw not how 
to answer, they immediately fall into a suspicion of the in- 
conclusiveness of all reasoning on the matter. 

Socrates shows finely that scepticism and misanthropy 
arise from similar causes; the latter from a want of knowing 
the true state of human nature; the former from not per- 
ceiving the true state of human reason. (See Phsedo.) 

SCRIPTURE METAPHORS OF THE DIVINITY. 

In speaking of the Divinity, so little know we His real 
nature, that we are constrained to borrow our ideas and con- 
ceptions of Him from something supposed to be analogous 
in ourselves or the creatures. But this is remarkable, that 
those Images, which are in themselves the noblest, and least 
unworthy, in their proper sense, of being applied to the 
divine nature, are found, on their application, the least sub- 
lime: those, on the contrary, which, in the strict notion of 
them, are least worthy, are most so. The reason is, that, in 
the former case, we are apt to rest in those images, as really 
representing the Divine nature (which therefore they must 
needs represent very imperfectly) ; in the latter, we see they 
can only be understood in the way of analogy ; and therefore 
we have recourse to something great and sublime, though 
confused, as only hinted at by the gross figure. Thus, the 
passages in Scripture which transfer our powers of under- 
standing or affection to the Deity are less sublime than 
such as apply our brute powers or the powers of other 
animals to Him. See Lowth, De Sacra Poesi, Prozl. xvi. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



267 



I take this to be one of the best observations in the dry 
desert of that wordy piece of criticism. 

GREAT CHURCHMEN 

are cominonlv very ignorant of religion. I like the inge- 
nuity of that confession on a Cardinal's tombstone at Eome, 
mentioned by Father Montfaucon in his travels, p. 145, 
English translation. It may serve for most other great 
churchmen's inscription. 

Religione fai tenuis terrena sequendo. 

The two greatest churchmen that have governed in the 
Church of England, from the dawn of the Reformation in 
Henry the Vlllth's time, to its establishment under Eliza- 
beth, and, I may add, to the present time [1806], were, as I 
take it, the two Archbishops Cranmer and Laud, and of these 
great men the former was burnt at the stake and the other 
beheaded. 

"Insere, nunc, Meliboee, pyros, pone ordine rites." 
ILLUSIONS. 

One of the ways by which human life becomes tolerable 
is through the illusion of hope. It would be a curious sub- 
ject to inquire how much of what we call happiness in this 
life arises from such sort of illusions. I doubt, if things ap- 
peared to us just as they are, we should not only lose a great 
deal of needful comfort, but deprive ourselves of much use- 
ful instruction. What child, for instance, would submit to 
the drudgery of his education, if he were not led on and 
deluded, as we may say, by certain fond and extravagant 
fancies of the excellence and advantages of learning, much 



268 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HTJRD's 



beyond what lie finds it to yield to him, when he comes to 
grow up to years of observation ? But by that time, luckily, 
habit supplies the place of his former illusion, and he con- 
tinues his studies, though he no longer dreams of the pro- 
digious importance of them. The same may be said of the 
other pursuits of life, such as greatness, wealth, titles, &c. 
In short, make all men philosophers, that is, instruct people 
from their earliest entrance on life to regard things but /or 
what tliey are, and you cut the sinews of all human industry 
and virtue. We are made happy by shadows here: the 
substance is to be sought in other regions. 



PAGANISM. 

When the gross and abominable idolatries of Paganism 
were set forth by Christian writers in the primitive ages, the 
advocates of that superstition had recourse to much inge- 
nuity in giving an allegorical and mystical sense to what 
was most obnoxious in the pagan fables. The same expe- 
dient was again tried in the early days of [the] Eeformation, 
to excuse what was most censured and complained of by 
the reformed in the idolatrous rites and ceremonies of the 
Eomish Church. Contarini, Sadolet, and Pole, took much 
pains in Italy to this purpose ; as we learn from a curious 
letter of Melanchthon to Henry the Eighth, printed in the 
Collections at the end of Burnet's History of the Eeforma- 
tion, vol. i. p. 303. Those Italians were learned in Pagan an- 
tiquity, and without doubt had derived their manner of 
defending popery from the practice of the pagan philoso- 
phers : though Melanchthon seems to think they did it in 
imitation of the mystical theology of Dionysius, who lived 
in the fourth century. Possibly they might pretend this, 
as supposing Dionysius a more creditable example than 
heathen sophists. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



269 



CHURCH. 

The light of the Gospel came down from Heaven, and 
Christians are directed to place it in a candlestick (which 
is the emblem of a Christian church, Kev. i. 20) that it may 
give light more advantageously to all that are in the House. 
Matth. v. 15. For our sins our candlestick may be removed. 
Kev. ii. 5. But the light of the Gospel itself, the candle of 
the Lord, is unextinguishable. Matt. xvi. 18. Let us com- 
fort one another with these words. 

PROVIDENCE INTERFERING IN THE GREAT AFFAIRS 
OF THE WORLD. 

It may be folly, rashness, and a want of charity, in public 
as well as private life, to charge every calamity that befals a 
prince or state as a divine judgment. Yet it is so difficult 
to distinguish between the effects of natural causes and a 
supernatural direction; it is so easy for the last to be hid 
under the appearance of the former ; and there may be so 
many good reasons for the interposition of the great Governor 
of the world, and that even in cases where our ignorance of 
the scheme of his providence does not apprehend any; in 
short what we call a particular providence is so supposable a 
thing in itself, so possible to be carried on without offering 
any violence to the established and ordinary course of nature, 
and in every way so suitable to the best ideas we can form 
of the moral Governor of the universe, that I must think it 
extreme presumption in any man to deny the existence of it, 
On the other hand, there are numberless instances in history 
(to say nothing of the fortunes of private men) that are 
enough to arrest the attention of the most careless and un- 
thinking. To give one only. A young, rash, unadvised 
prince, stimulated by his own frantic ambition, and the flat- 
tering encouragement of two or three of the weakest of his 
courtiers, is carried to revive I know not what antiquated 



270 SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HTJRD's 

claim to a great and flourishing kingdom in a remote corner 
of the world. Every wise member of his council treats the 
project as chimerical. He has no provision of wealth or 
force for such an undertaking, and ten thousand difficul- 
ties occur to the execution of it. Yet he persists in his 
design. He runs from one end of Europe to the other. 
Though he is confessedly of no capacity himself, nor has any 
such to counsel or conduct him , nay is the dupe of one who 
is of allowed capacity; notwithstanding, I say, these dis- 
couraging circumstances, in what to every man of sense 
appears the maddest of all enterprizes, he advances, he 
succeeds. His own folly, want of preparation, and improvi- 
dence has no ill consequences. All obstructions fall, as it 
were, of themselves. A wise and powerful enemy is infatu- 
ated and enfeebled by one can hardly tell what terrors, at 
least to a degree that exceeds all reasonable account that can 
be given of them. In short, without receiving a single 
check, or so much almost as drawing a single sword, he in- 
vades at length a powerful state that has been long respect- 
able to other nations by its proper strength, and by the re- 
putation of wisdom with which it was governed ; he takes 
possession of the capital, and, to the astonishment of all 
Europe, and even of himself, his whole design is perfectly 
completed. 

The case that is here put, may be found at large in the 
histories of Charles VIII. of France, and in particular in the 
first Book of Guicciardini. And let any man consider the 
character that is given of the House of Arragon, especially 
of the elder Ferdinand (against whom the expedition was 
first intended) and his son Alfonzo, both of them the 
cruellest, and most oppressive, and at the same time the 
ablest princes of their time ; and then let him declare per- 
emptorily if he can, that there are no traces of a divine 
direction in this whole matter, and that so weak a prince as 
Charles was not an instrument in the hands of Providence to 



COMMONPLACE EOOK. 



271 



accomplish some ends or other of his government in the 
moral world. Perhaps to impress upon careless and pre- 
sunrptuous princes a sense of that great truth contained ill 
the saying of the psalmist, which the younger Ferdinand, 
son of Alfonzo, (to whom he had resigned the kingdom, 
and who appears to have been the most virtuous and deserv- 
ing of the family) repeated, it seems, with great earnestness, 
in his flight to Ischia, as long as he kept the City of Naples 
in his view: " Except the Lord keep the city, the watch- 
man waketh but in vain." (Guicciardini, lib. i. p. 60. ed. 
Vineg. 1568.) I imagine there might be as much philosophy 
as piety in this reflexion of the unhappy young prince. 

FORTUNE. 

How often may the purposes of a particular 'providence be 
carried on and lie concealed under the capricious appearance 
of what men call Fortune! Men may act, but the event be 
often determined besides their expectation by the divine 
counsel. In this sense we may apply the observation of 
Solomon: " The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole dis- 
posing thereof is of the Lord." — (Prov. xvi. 36.) 

CHANGE. 

"For modes of Faith let graceless zealots fight, 
His can't be wrong whose life is in the right." — Pope. 

The same observation had been made, (and was probably 
copied in this place) by Mr. Addison : "I look upon it as 
one of the unaccountable things of our times, that multi- 
tudes of honest gentlemen, who entirely agree in their lives^ 
should take it in their heads to differ in their religion." 
(Tatler, No. 220.) As if a good life necessarily inferred a 
right faith. But neither of these writers meant to assert 
this. They intended only to express in strong terms their 
opinion, that a good life was the soul of religion, or that 



272 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



without which Faith is dead, as the Apostle speaks. (St. 
James, ii. 20.) 

PRINCIPLE AS A GROUND OF ACTION. 

The confusions in England from 1640 to 1660 were 
founded on principles, civil and religious, though mistaken 
and misapplied. There was then some foundation to build 
upon. Those principles might come to be better directed, 
and so restore the nation to its senses, as they did in 1660. 

The Revolution in France, and the horrors attending it, 
were founded on atheism, i.e. the absence of all principle. 
Of such a people there is small hope. 

SECKER'S SERMONS. 1766. 

These sermons are remarkable for their soft and gentle in- 
sinuation, for a prudent application to different tempers and 
characters, for the prevention and anticipation of popular 
prejudices, and for a certain conciliating calmness, pro- 
priety, and decency of language. They are not distin- 
guished by any extraordinary reach of thought, vigour of 
sentiment, or beauty of composition. There is sometimes 
an air of cant in the expression, which the pious and worthy 
author, no doubt, derived from the circumstances of his 
early breeding and education. 

ENEMIES. 

There was a ferocity in the ancient world, both among 
Jews and Gentiles, antecedent to the coming of Christ and 
the promulgation of his law, which shocks us at present, and 
has occasioned us many difficulties in the interpretation of 
the Jewish Scriptures. It appears from Matt. v. 42, that it 
was thought allowable to hate our enemies, and to love our 
friends only. There might be no express authority for this 
practice in the Jewish law, but the practice was universal, 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



273 



and, as it seems, connived at. This, therefore, accounts for 
the imprecations in the Psalms and elsewhere. So that the 
attempt to account for the uncharitableness (as we call it, 
and rightly so, judging by the law of Christ, and the spirit 
of his religion,) of the 109th Psalm is unnecessary, and to 
no purpose. 

Possibly St. Paul himself (2 Tim. iv. 14,) may have been 
transported by a sudden heat to express himself in the 
ancient allowed vindictive manner, though his general doc- 
trine be clearly different. Such an ebullition of former pre- 
judice on a single provoking occasion proves nothing against 
the infallibility of his general deliberate writings. He him- 
self allows this incogitancy, in another place, where he 
reviles the high priest (Acts xxiii. 5). We should judge 
of the morals of men by the light afforded them, and not 
by our light. Men writing under the impulse of inspiration 
might not be restrained in the expression of such sentiments 
as were allowed, at least not positively condemned, in the 
dispensation under which they lived. Moses even expressly 
allowed and enjoined some things to the Jews, for the hard- 
ness of their hearts, which the Christian la w disapproves. 

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 

When I hear our modern critics so clamorous for a new 
Translation of the Bible for public use, I am tempted to say, 
" Pray, gentlemen, first agree among yourselves what and 
whose that translation shall be ; for I perceive by your ver- 
sions, annotations, &c, that, in all difficult passages, ye 
judge differently, and dissent from each other." Our 
English one and the Vulgate are preferred by Bishop 
Horslcy to the Scptung'int (see his Hosea, p. 166). 



T 



274 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP EHUD'S 



CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 

If this famous Emperor had convoked the Council of 
Nice to establish the religion of the empire, and had then 
tolerated dissentients, he would have merited the highest 
applause ; the true interests of religion had been consulted ; 
and the peace of the State preserved. But in attempting to 
force everybody into the orthodox party, he very naturally, 
but undesignedly, produced all the confusions that followed. 
It is hardly to this day understood, that an establishment, 
guarded by a test, and indulging to others a liberty of judg- 
ment, is the true secret in ecclesiastical polity. 



WEALTH, POWER, AND HONOUR, 

are three great idols, which draw to themselves a con- 
siderable share of the homage of mankind; but of whom 
are these the idols? Not of every man who knows what 
advantages are annexed to these acquisitions, but of those 
only who, by frequently revolving them in their minds, 
have conceived a passion for them ; of those who make them 
the subject of their waking, and sometimes of their sleeping 
thoughts; of those, in a word, who let their wishes and 
imaginations loose to expatiate, as it were, on the mighty 
privileges which are supposed to flow from these distinct 
tions. Then it is that the mind is heated with desire, and 
transported with a passionate admiration of its darling 
object. 

(A fragment of one of my sermons — to shew that the way 
to place our affections on things above is to meditate fre- 
quently upon them.) 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



275 



MB. WARBURTON, 
His Pbinciples of Natubal and Revealed 
Religion, &c. Vol. L 

The reader will rind in these sermons many proofs of 
that sagacity and reach of thought so peculiar to their 
author. They are further remarkable for force of argument, 
brightness of imagery, and dignity of expression. But they 
have neither that looseness of form, nor easy popular air in 
the turn of language which common readers look for in dis- 
courses of this nature. — H. 

HAPPINESS, 

IDEAS OF, COMMONLY MISTAKEN. 

It occasions much misconduct in human life that men 
are prone to take their notions of happiness from the opi- 
nion and report of others, and not from their own sense of 
things. It is the observation of Lucretius : 

saphmt alieno ex ore ; petuntque 

Res ex anditis potius, quara sensibus ipsis. 

(Lucr. 1. v. 1132.) 

PERSECUTION. 

It is a deplorable instance of human weakness that the 
persecuted should so soon learn to persecute. The Kefomed 
did this almost before they were out of the hands of their 
Romish prosecutors ; the primitive Christians did the same 
in the very age of their deliverer Constantine. (See Mos- 
heim.) Was this the spirit of revenge and retaliation? 
Or is it that the intolerant spirit under the name of zeal is 
too familiar to human nature, and the too natural issue of 
human pride? 



276 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



FAMES. 

The custom that prevailed in the fanatical times of giving 
Godly names to children, such as God-be-praised Bare- 
bones, &c, was not peculiar to that age. We find the 
same usage in the fifth century, which makes mention of a 
holy Quod-vult-Deus (what pleases God) Bishop of Car- 
thage, and another holy Bishop, Deo-gratias (God-be- 
thanked). The custom probably arose from that common 
fanaticism which ever prevails in such wretched times as 
those of our civil wars, and of those still more deplorable 
wars of the empire in the fifth century — torn in pieces by 
the merciless Goths on the one hand, and by weak, wicked 
emperors, ambitious generals and ministers, and intolerant 
religious parties on the other. 

CASUISTICAL THEOLOGY. 

The horrid books of casuistry composed and spread 
abroad by some of the Romish communion seemed to make 
it necessary that a code of this sort should be compiled by 
better and wiser men for the use of the people. Otherwise 
I do not see that the most reasonable and judicious works 
of casuistical divinity contribute much to the purposes of 
practical virtue and religion. The better way of inculcating 
and securing morality is perhaps to confirm and strengthen 
in ourselves that natural and instinctive abhorrence which 
we all have of vice; I mean, to encourage an honesty and 
simplicity of mind rather than perplex the head with 
curious distinctions and nice reasonings. What is it, for 
instance, to an honest man to be informed of the several 
circumstances of alleviation which may be drawn from a 
state of drunkenness, to excuse or palliate the crimes to 
which he may be transported by it? Let him be taught to 
encourage in himself a hearty detestation of the vice of 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



27" 



drunkenness. And so in other matters — this horror of vice 
well impressed on our hearts will better secure the integrity 
of our lives than a thousand volumes, though curiously and 
justly wrought, of casuistical morality and divinity. Seneca 
says well of the wisdom of those he calls the ancients: 
" Antiqua sapientia nihil aliud quam facienda et vitanda 
praecepit : et hinc rneliores erant viri. Postquam docti pro- 
dierunt, boni desimt. Simplex enim ilia et aperta virtus 
in obscuram et solertem scientiam versa est ; docemurque 
disputare, non vivere." (Ad Lucilium.) 

See more on this subject in Preface to Dr. Taylor's famous 
" Ductor Dubitantium," the best work of the sort, perhaps, 
that ever was published, and the most elaborate and exqui- 
site of all his own writings. Yet I should think his 64 Plain 
Treatise of Holy Living and Dying/' which boys and 
women may read and understand, more likely to serve the 
ends of goodness and piety, which this admirable man had 
so much at heart, than all the studied and minute reasonings 
in this his tome of casuistical theology. 

The sacred writers, as well as Seneca's wise man. inculcate 
virtue in general aphorisms. These an honest mind will 
easily apply to all particular cases. The secret is^ to take 
these aphorisms in the largest sense ; for thus we shall keep 
at the greatest distance from immorality. Where is the hurt 
in being what some call too good ? — the only consequence to 
be apprehended from this plain-dealing philosophy. We are 
in some danger of losing our virtue when we begin to reason 
about it. In short, sentiment is a better security than specu- 
lation. 

What has been said respects private morals only. As to 
public morals, I mean those rules of morality by which ma- 
gistrates are to proceed in the administration of justice, or 
by which ministers of state and other public persons are to 
conduct themselves in the discharge of their several functions, 
these may be studied to advantage in the writings of honest 



278 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



and able casuists. It were to be wished, indeed, that states 
would act with the same simplicity and honesty towards each 
other as private men. But, as this is not to be expected, a 
nicer disquisition into morals may be serviceable to them. 
Let them, at least, not grossly and blindly offend against 
the strict rules of duty, though we allow them to be no 
more virtuous then they needs must. As to magistrates, 
what we expect from them is justice, which they may some- 
times violate, if they give way to a general, though vir- 
tuous, indignation against vice. The same is eminently 
true of legislators, who, especially in corrupt times, should 
be able casuists. 

In short, private morals are best secured by a good heart : 
public morals require to be governed by that, under the di- 
rection of a good head. Honesty does all in the first; dis- 
cretion may do much in the other. 

MOSES. 

One reason why Moses was commanded to lead the people 
of Israel out of Egypt through the Wilderness, and not the 
nearest way, through the land of the Philistines, might be, 
that, after so long a residence in that frightful desert, the 
promised land might appear to them to the utmost advan- 
tage, as a land " flowing with milk and honey," according 
to the description given of it, and so prevent or lessen their 
desire of returning to Egypt, whose fertility as well as 
idolatry was very alluring to them. Another and similar 
reason is expressly assigned for this conduct, (Exod. xiii. 17,) 
" Lest peradventure the people repent, when they see war, and 
they return to Egypt" The divine counsels usually accom- 
plish more ends than one : and the end here specified implies 
a great condescension to the infirmities of that people. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



279 



EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. 

This species of philosophy must have been very prevalent 
at Borne in the Augustan age, when not only the greatest, 
but the most ingenious men (such as Lucretius. Virgil, 
Horace,) were infected by it. But it had this good effect* 
that it undermined the widely -diffused and deep-rooted 
idolatry and superstition of the people: and till this was 
done, the Gospel itself, which appeared in that fulness of 
time, could not, so soon at least, have made its way in the 
world. The vast fabric of pagan superstition gave way to 
te atheistical system: and this could not keep its ground 
long against the light and influence of divine truth. 

Perhaps the prevalence of Deism by means of our free- 
th inkers and philosophers in the Christian world may be 
permitted in order to effect the destruction of Popery. Sir 
Isaac Xewton thought that "the tyranny of popish super- 
stition must be put a stop to and broken in pieces by the 
temporary prevalence of infidelity, before the reign of primi- 
tive Christianity should be extended over the world/' 

VIRTUE. 

Justin, speaking of the Scythians, in his second book, 
takes notice of their neglect of money. Hence he accounts 
for their justice and other virtues. The truth is, in polished 
and learned ages, the principles men act upon are the most 
just and reasonable; but, if their principles happen to be 
right, men act upon them more steadily and resolutely in 
barbarous ages. It would be a great secret, if any one could 
tell us how to unite a Scythian virtue with a Greek 
philosophy. 

There is a wide difference betwixt a reasoning, and an 
active philosophy. To the disgrace of science, men practice 
virtue more resolutely when they know little or nothing of 



280 bishop hurd's commonplace book. 



tlie reasons on which it is founded, than when all those 
reasons have been discussed and clearly apprehended. 

PLUTARCH'S TREATISE irepi UoXv^Xiag 

dissuades against forming many friendships, from the igno- 
miny, uselessness, and inconveniences of this practice : shews 
that friendship, from the nature of the thing, can only sub- 
sist between two persons, or, at most, very few. The sen- 
timents throughout just and generous. The ancients con- 
ceived highly of friendship and its duties : we prostitute the 
word in every common acquaintance. 



2. CRITICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 



POLI REGINALDI CAKDINALIS BRITANNI AD 
HENRICUM VIII. BRITANNLZE RE GEM, 

Pro Ecclesiastics Unitatis Defensione. 

LlBRI IV. 

This book was addressed to the King about the year 1536, 
when he had entirely broken with Rome, and had assumed 
the Supremacy of the Church. Dr. Sampson had published 
a book in defence of these proceedings of the King, to which 
this work of Pole is an answer. It is, for the manner, 
excellently well written; with the fire of eloquence one 
might expect from such a genius, influenced by religious 
resentment; and with an elegance and purity of language 
for which the Ciceroniani of that time (of which number was 
Pole) were so eminent. His treatment of Sampson is very 
severe; and even of the King himself, whom yet he occa- 
sionally manages with address : but the zeal of the incensed 
churchman is most prevalent. The most eloquent parts are 
the address to England, and the exhortation to the Emperor 
to turn his arms against the Royal Heretic rather than the 
Turk, in book iii. His arguments throughout are of no great 
force ; chiefly taken from the popular prejudices of the time, 
rather than from the solid principles of Scripture or reason. 
But the whole was admirably contrived to raise a general 
odium against Henry and the Reformation. One of the most 
invidious topics, and which accordingly he has constant 
recourse to, is the King's putting to death Sir Thomas 
More and the Bishop of Rochester. This was a fit theme 
for the heightenings of his Ciceronian eloquence, and he has 
exhausted his whole art upon it. 



282 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



His faults as a writer were, that his style was rather luxu- 
riant than nervous, agreeably to the character of those who 
called themselves Ciceroniani, and, suitably to the turn of 
his own genius, was elegant and flowing, but wanted man- 
liness and force. Accordingly, as his judgment ripened, 
and when the first effervescence of youth had spent itself, 
he grew languid in his compositions, and "brought his 
style to a flatness that had neither life nor beauty in it."* 

REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF LUDOVICO 
SFORZA, 

THE USURPING DuKE OF MlLAN. (GuiCCIARDINI, B. I. II. III. IV.) 

Many reflections might be made upon this memorable 
story. 

The most obvious is that, though the arts of a refined 
and dishonest policy may succeed for a time, yet they natu- 
rally wear themselves out, and, if pushed beyond a certain 
point, are sure to expose the man that uses them to infamy, 
distrust, and ruin. Mankind will bear a great deal, and 
easily suffer themselves to become the dupes of designing 
statesmen and politicians, even after many proofs of their 
artifice and knavery. But, after all, they will not bear 
everything; and, when the opinion grows to be general of 
a prince's ill-faith, this impudent game must be given up, 
and can be played no longer; and then what follows is de- 
spair, and irremediable. 

A second reflection is, that success naturally blinds the 
sharpest-sighted of these worldly politicians, (for Ludovico 
Sforza was confessedly the prince of the greatest parts and 
capacity of his time,) and tempts them to presume much 
more on their own ability and the weakness of other men 
than good sense would prescribe, or than experience will 
warrant. If the first contrivances of Sforza had been less 

* Burnet, History of the Reformation, p. ii. b. ii. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



283 



fortunate, or accomplished with less ease, he might have 
heen more cautious, and therefore more secure in the course 
of his amhition. 

The last reflection I make is this, that a prince's throwing 
off all regard to oaths and good faith himself, and openly 
shewing himself to be guided by no principle of honour, is 
the ready and certain way to make all his ministers and 
servants as prostitute and treacherous as himself. And this 
we find to have been the misfortune of this great politician ; 
"for, of all the persons employed under him in places of trust 
and honour, not one of them seems, in his last distressful 
circumstances, to have stuck fast to him. On the contrary, 
they all betrayed and abandoned him with great ease, 
and without any signs of remorse for their vile and treach- 
erous desertion of him. See an extraordinary instance, p. 
200, where his guilt was, however, attended with remorse, 
but not for the infamy, but the ill-success of the treason. 



CONVERSATION. 

It takes much from the pleasure of conversation (though 
I know not whether it has been observed) that men do not 
speak in time, i.e. with the same degree of rapidity or slow- 
ness. When the succession of ideas, and consequently of 
words, in the hearer is considerably different from that of 
the speaker, the attention of the former is oppressed and 
fatigued by the effort to conform his own habit of thinking 
and speaking to that of the latter, that is, the conversation 
becomes unpleasing. 

The same observation extends, in some sort, to speaking 
in public, or what is called eloquence, and even to styles of 
writing. If the orator or writer hurries on too fast for us, 
or drags on after us, we are something disgusted, and feel 
a degree of pain in keeping up to his pace. The former 



284 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



we call a cluttering or drawling enunciation, the latter a 
rapid or heavy, an abrupt or diffuse style. 

It may however be observed that in writing or public 
speaking we have it more in our power to check our own 
habits, and to conform the character of our style and elo- 
quence to what we conceive to be the most acceptable and 
prevailing practice of the generality of writers and speakers, 
than in the freedom and carelessness of private conversa- 
tion, where we think it of less consequence to observe that 
uniformity. 

\ HUME'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 

This writer's bias to the French taste and manners, which 
appears throughout his History, is ridiculous: his political 
doctrines, arising out of his bigotry to the Stuart family, are 
pernicious': and his libertinism, which breaks out on so 
many occasions, is detestable. Otherwise, this is the most 
readable History we have of England. The faults of the 
composition are, a too frequent affectation of philosophical 
disquisition^ and an incorrect and sometimes an inflated 
style. The former is unsuited to the general nature of 
History : the latter is a capital blemish in a work that pre- 
tends to be nothing more than a compilation. With these 
faults, his work will be read and admired. The worst is, 
the mediocrity of this History will prevent an able writer 
from undertaking a better. 

1 

RAPIN THE HISTORIAN 

has certainly neither the vivacity nor ingenuity of Hume. 
But his industry, his plain good sense, his candour and 
honesty make one read his History with more pleasure than 
the lively, unprincipled Scotsman's. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



285 



HUMAN NATURE. 

To acquire a just knowledge of human nature, besides a 
man's own deep reflection and observation, it is fit that he 
study the works of Cicero, Bacon's Essays, and such other 
writings as have been composed by wise men conversant in 
life and business. Ingenious and theoretical books, if not 
written by men well seen and practised in real business, are 
of little use. 

JUSTICE. 

It was peculiar to a great magistrate (Lord Mansfield), and 
for that reason was perhaps objected to him by some per- 
sons, that he made the strict justice of the King's Bench 
speak the language of our courts of equity. For his saga- 
cious mind easily penetrated the just scope and meaning of 
the law through all the intanglements of words and forms, 
by which the decisions of other judges had been perplexed 
and restrained. And if this were a fault, it had, at least, no 
ill effect in his hands; and luckily but few are capable of 
committing it. 

CHARLES I. 

It was the practice of this prince's court to confound all 
the Church of England men who expressed any unwilling- 
ness to submit to his arbitrary measures with the Puritans. 
The natural and necessary effect of this unhappy policy was 
to increase the number of Puritans. Yet this experience 
has not sufficed to deter all succeeding parties from the like 
imprudent conduct. The Whigs but too generally repre- 
sent those who in any degree oppose the Administration as 



286 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



Jacobites : the Tories, all those who are friends to it as ene- 
mies to the liberty of the people, and Courtiers. This way 
of proceeding only tends to produce more of each sort. 

LEARNING. 

The learning of our old writers far greater than that of 
our present. Consider Erasmus, particularly his Adagia : 
Gataker's critical works: even our more popular divines, 
such as Taylor, Stillingfleet, Barrow; what an extent and 
accuracy of erudition ! See the Treatise on the Pope's Su- 
premacy by the latter. We now content ourselves with a 
slighter knowledge of books. Our curiosity, our industry, 
our research are far less. We lay in more moderate stores, 
and practice a sort of frugality in the use and application 
of them. It is enough that we provide a sprinkling of 
knowledge, so much as is requisite to make a show of, and 
may be put to use in popular discourse and disquisition. 
More than this would fatigue and displease. Should a 
writer of the old stamp arise, he is stared at, perhaps ad- 
mired, but generally neglected. After all, it may be said, 
"We read less, but think more." But is this the case? 
Compare the best of modern writers with Hooker * Bacon, 
and Barrow. 

Ye little stars, hide your diminished rays ! 

The most that can be said for us is* that we select our 
topics of discourse better. We omit the smaller and more 
known, and hold up to view those of greater account, or less 
considered, although we support these with less ability or 
diligence. Our most esteemed writers strive to excel in 
manner and method: ,they do so, and are sometimes ad- 
mirable in those respects, but are almost always slight and 
superficial. They want at least the copiousness, the reach $ 
the authority, the weight, of our old writers. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



287 



LETTERS. 

Private letters between friends are supposed to give a 
faithful picture of the dispositions and sentiments of those 
who compose them. This is a mistake ; the purpose of them 
is to please (I will suppose in a manly and.honourable way) 
the person to whom they are addressed. They therefore 
reflect the character, i. e. the opinion entertained of the 
person written to, not of the writer. 

POETRY. 

There is a graceful negligence of expression and temerity 
of conception in some parts of Shakespeare, and all over 
Lucretius, that have a better effect in poetry than the studied 
exactness and cautious sublimity of Virgil and Pope. They 
give a freshness and novelty, or what is called originality, 
which no critical accuracy can supply. It is an effect which 
no polish of language, not even the facetum of Virgil, can 
produce. 

LIBERTY. 

When I was young, I took a pleasure in such books, an- 
cient and modern, as were written in the spirit and in the 
praise of Liberty ; but I have lived to see the black Rebellion 
of America, and the infernal Revolution in France, and, on 
reflection, to what else could those panegyrics and specula^ 
tions lead? In general the love of liberty is pride and a lust 
of dominion, and the warmest declaim ers against tyranny 
are in their hearts and in their lives, when opportunity 
offers, the greatest tyrants. All history shows this: how 
fascinating is the sound of a republic ! yet read the Pelo- 



288 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HUKD's 



ponnesian War of Thucydides, or the Florentine History 
of Machiavel, and you can hardly avoid detesting all re- 
publics, which, in truth, are downright anarchies. Every 
wise and good man deprecates a tyrannous government; 
but, if I must be tyrannised over, let it be by one man of 
rank and eminence, who can hardly be without some sparks 
of humanity and generosity, and not by millions of reptiles 
calling themselves citizens, but only compounded of dirt 
and blood. 

The above was written some years before I looked into 
Marmontel's CEuvres Posthumes ; but in that work, tome iv. 
p. 258, he calls the revolutionary despotism of France, " ce 
colosse de fange, p'4tri et cimente de sang." 

,no*IiM.bflfi foenoqS lo abn&d srlJ ni noiioshsKj o| 

nl heoH&vbn nosd gsrf *i a<6 x& os? t astasia bs$^©ntb' ; ^T 
LIBRARY. 

noam^S ** 9flT .snob oi aniamsi 'xfoirm \%ev hid ;9?fi9qa 
A great library would be a mortifying sight to a man of 
letters if he did not know that what Crassus observes, in 
the Dialogue de Oratore, of the Civil Law, was also true of 
all other studies : ' ' Eadem sunt elata primum a pluribus ; 
deinde, paucis verbis commutatis, etiam ab iisdem scriptori- 
bus scripta sunt ssepius." (Lib. i. c. 43.) 

; 9qo<I bm mb\iQ 

ditsumtattv *8om ^ **** mmbbA him .loirt t [km% 
CRITICISM 

is of two sorts; one regards only, or chiefly, the language 
or words of the author criticised, whence this takes the 
name of verbal criticism; the other, without neglecting 
words, enters more deeply into the spirit, views, and scope 
of the author. This last is the best sort of criticism. 

This explains what Bishop Warburton once observed to 
me of Bishop Pearce's criticisms on Milton, " that they 
were good in their kind, but not of the best kind." 

In the second and best sense of criticism alluded to above 



93 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



289 



we have examples in the works of Aristotle, Longinus, 
Cicero, and Quintilian among the ancients, and in many of 
the modern critics who yet cultivated more professedly the 
verbal species, in which class Joseph Scaliger and Salmasius 
and our Bentley may be mentioned; but, in judging of 
English poetry, none have yet proceeded so far towards per- 
fection in this elegant sort of criticism as a late writer * of 
more than common acuteness and penetration, as may be 
seen in his editions of Shakespeare and Pope. 

ENGLISH POETS. 

The greater, and what may be called pure, poetry came 
to perfection in the hands of Spenser and Milton. 

The dramatic species, so far as it has been advanced in 
England, has been cultivated with most success by Shake- 
speare; but very much remains to be done. The " Samson 
Agonistes " is the best essay in that kind on the ancient 
model. 

The humbler sorts of poetry, under whatever name, but 
chiefly satiric and ethic, have been carried to all the ex- 
cellence their nature admits, and adorned with the utmost 
grace and harmony of versification and expression, by 
Dryden and Pope. 

Parnell, Prior, and Addison are the most gentlemanly 
poets. 

The reader who has digested and understood these poets 
will hardly be much pleased with any others; not perhaps 
for want of merit, but of originality. 

A TEDIOUS WHITER 

is one, not who uses many words, whether in long or short 
sentences; but who uses many words to little purpose. 
* Bishop Warburton. 
U 



290 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HTJRD's 



Where the sense keeps pace with the words, though these be 
numerous, or drawn out into long periods, I am not tired 
with an author : when his expression goes on, and the sense 
stands still, I am presently out of patience with him. Of all 
the great writers of antiquity, Cicero is perhaps the least 
tedious, and Seneca the most so. 

REASON. 

Men call their own fancies reason, and the reasons of 
others fancies. But in the ventilations of controversy both 
are found to be what they are. Truth presently disengages 
itself from error, as corn from chaff ; the one remains for the 
sustenance of man, — pabulum humanitatis, — while the other 
is carried away by its own lightness, and is heard of no 
more. 

CONVERSATION 

is rendered insecure and nnsatis factory by the prevailing 
humour of repeating in one company what has passed in 
another. Plutarch says it was a custom among the Spartans 
at their meals for the eldest person present to say to the 
rest, as they entered the door of the hall or eating room, 
Ata tqvtcov [pointing to the doors] e^co ovk ifC7ropev6rai,. 

"Not a word is to repass this way." (Lycurgus.) "lis true, 
there was the more need of this institution, as we are told in 
the same place that the Spartans gave themselves great 
liberties in the use of raillery. The meaning then was, that 
every thing said in their free conversations to each other at 
table should be no more thought of when they were over. 
But it were a good general rule if there were any way to 
bring men to the practice of it. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



291 



PRIOR. 

His verses on Guiscard's wounding Mr. Harley — strike out 
the three first three stanzas, which are very bad. The rest 
is well enough. 

It is remarkable that this poet, though he wrote verse 
with singular ease and grace, lost this faculty in prose, espe- 
cially in his familiar letters. The reason might be, that he 
wrote verses to please himself, and therefore followed his 
natural vein: but in writing letters, his aim was to please 
others, and he thought he could not do this but by writing- 
in his character of a wit, which would of course render his 
manner constrained, pert, and affected. The observation ap- 
plies in some degree to Pope himself, at least in his early 
letters to wits and ladies. 

PERSONIFICATION. 

See the following group of persons beautifully brought 
into the description of the Seasons by Lucretius, lib. y. 
ver. 737. 

The mythology and superstition of the Greeks and Eo- 
mans gave their poets and painters a great advantage in 
representing such subjects. Everything was personified 
among them, that is, became poetical in their hands. These 
fictions and images are copied from them by Christian 
artists, but they have not the same grace in modern as in 
ancient times. It is true a great inventive genius might 
suggest these images to a poet under any circumstances, 
but the national religion supplied them ready formed for 
use to the pagan poet. 



u 2 



292 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP KURD'S 



™%allust aaaTiaw 

first introduced into the Latin language the short, abrupt, 
sententious, and I add affected, manner. Who would ima- 
gine that he and Cicero lived together, and were writers 
of the same age ? The same manner of writing was fol- 
lowed and brought into general vogue by Seneca and 
Tacitus. Quintilian gave some check to it; but, abound- 
ing, as he said, duhibus vitiis, it prevailed. Whoever were 
the models and patrons of it, the taste is a false one, having 
neither ease, nor perspicuity, nor simplicity, nor nature to 
recommend it. 

■ a&axTaj axijoi i , , 

CICERO. 

His nature. A little inclined to apprehensive fear and 
despondency in difficulties and distresses, " Si quisquam 
est timidus in magnis periculosisque rebus, semperque magis 
adversos rerum exitus metuens, quam sperans secundos, is 
ego sum: et hoc si vitium est, eo me non carere conflteor." 
(Ep. ad Fam.) 

But this is all: for that he was of an abject, pusillanimous, 
and unmanly spirit, as has been charged upon him by some, 
does not appear to me from his history. The letters written 
to Atticus during his exile, from whence this censure is 
chiefly taken, by no means prove this. They contain only 
the natural workings of a humane, sensible \_L e. sensitive] 
disposition, which he was at no pains to dissemble or sup- 
press. His peculiar benevolence and tenderness for his 
family and dependants made him feel the affliction more 
acutely than others would; and, unbosoming himself to his 
friend, he freely confessed all those natural movements which 
those who pretend to heroism are studious to conceal. (Ep. 
" ad Att. lib. iii.) 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. • 293 



WRITERS OF CONTROVERSY. 

Cicero, who has left us patterns of so many kinds of 
writing, may be reckoned consummate also in this. In the 
thirteenth of his Philippics, he recites a letter of Antony to 
the Consuls Hirtius and Pausa, on the Senate, and answers 
to it paragraph by paragraph. There is great wit, spirit, 
elegance, and force in the manner in which he rallies and 
confutes by turns every sentence of this infamous letter 
The whole is a model for that kind of writing. 
Oi 9iut&a 10a tYjionqmia 'ion ^nuoiqsneq ion ,93£9 ledtissi 

- . ti bnaramoosi 

POLITE LETTERS. 

AYhen I was young, and lived amongst books and scholars, 
and had my ears constantly stunned with the praises of both, 
I fell into a very pleasant delirium, and was almost ready 
to join myself to that sect of philosophers who made know- 
ledge the summum bonum, the supreme happiness, of man. 
It is now a long time since lam convinced of this folly, and 
that happiness, alas, is not to be expected, as Seneca says, 
" ex studiorum liberalium vana ostentatione, et nihil sanan- 
tibus Uteris. ' (Sen. Ep. 59.) Yet they aie amongst the 
best of our amusements, f r gjj 

Those painted clouds tbat beautify our days, 
as the poet expresses it. 

[-9v^igri93 A .V] dldiznsz t saB£nud a io egniiliow kmlen edt 
-qna to ofdmsgsib oj saitq on ia asw sd doirlw f noriiaoqai& 
REPUBLICANISM. 

It has been said, and I believe with truth, that a bias 
toward republicanism has been derived from reading the 
history of the Greek and Roman republics, though the 
reverse of this might have been expected. Our philosopher, 



294 SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUED's 

Hobbes, at least, seems to have been of this opinion, when 
he translated Homer and Thucydides, in order to counteract 
the propensity towards the anti-monarchical form of govern- 
ment. But in republics we find men of eminence in arms 
and arts. And we are so dazzled by the lustre of such cha- 
racters, as to forget that what we look for from government 
is peace and security both of our persons and properties: 
and that it is a poor compensation for the want of these to 
find a crop of heroes, statesmen, orators, and artists spring 
up amidst our miseries. But let a man of sense read with 
attention the history of Thucydides, of Livy, and of Ma- 
chiavelli (to say nothing of the English Republic in the last 
century), and he will need nothing more to give him an in- 
delible horror of that form of misgovernment. Mr. Mitford's 
History of Greece may be consulted to this purpose. 



RANK 

or station in the learned professions not to be apportioned to 
intellectual abilities only. 

Hooker would not have been so good an archbishop as 
Whitgift, but he was a much better writer; and Bishops- 
bourn was a fitter scene for the display of that talent than 
Lambeth. 

Twenty lawyers of the time might have discharged the 
office of Chancellor as well as, perhaps better than, Bacon : 
but which of them could have composed the Novum Orga- 
num, or even the Essays? 

WRITERS. 

The views, humours, and characters of, very different. 
This is not always considered when some are applauded 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



295 



and others condemned, e.g. as niuch of the positive and 
dogmatic spirit may lie hid in the diffident writer as is ex- 
pressed in a confident one. The mode of writing makes 
all the difference, and this may proceed frorn different 
causes, and may in either case be justified from them, 
Would you convince or proselyte the person you write 
against? The way of insinuation is preferable. Do you 
despair of this, and would you guard others from being 
misled by him? The direct and peremptory method is 
better.* Besides, would the decorum of character be pre- 
served if the bold-spirited wrote with the cautious reserve 
of the timid? But you " like the softer character better: " 
that is another consideration, and may as well mean your 
pride as your humility. 

THE FRENCH. 

Guicciardini takes notice, that one of the principal causes 
that alienated the Neapolitans from Charles Vlllth, whom 
they received at first with all possible demonstrations of 
joy, was the humour natural to them (the French) of swag- 
gering, carried to an insupportable height by success. This 
offensive quality was the main cause of the ruin of their 
affairs whenever they set footing in Italy, as Guicciardini 
constantly takes notice. 

The English are a jji^oud, the French an insolent, people. 
The former quality, though bad enough when carried too 

* " The end of controversy is either to convince the person you 
dispute with, or simply to confute his opinions. "When the former is 
the object, without doubt the softest words are the best; but the 
other is best done by a vigorous expression, because it shows the 
disputant to be in earnest, and sets the error contended against in 
the strongest light, the likeliest means to prevent others being in- 
fected by it." (Bishop Hurd's Life of "Warburton, p. 122, 4to. edit.) 



296 



SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HTJRD's 



far, is compatible with many of the nobler virtues, nay, 
produces and confirms them: the other is not only allied 
to many vices, but has a natural tendency to produce and 
inflame them, nay, and converts the virtues themselves into 
vices. The greatest man among the French is the greatest 
swaggerer. 

It may be observed that Perefixe, in his famous but 
contemptible history of Henry IV. universally almost mis- 
takes swaggering for magnanimity , and that the instances 
he gives of the latter in the speeches and sayings of that 
prince are most commonly nothing else but expressions of 
the former. 

The French were the most abject idolators of their princes 
while the monarchy lasted, and the most insolent perse- 
cutors of them from the moment an unprovoked and suc- 
cessful rebellion had thrown the government into their 
hands — the most servile royalists, and the most tyrannical 
republicans. Can there be a surer proof of a worthless and 
unprincipled people? I mean not to include all French- 
men in this censure. The emigres and the royalists, many 
of them at least, forbid it ; but the character of the vastly 
greater part of a nation is the national character. 
\d 'H esoufooiq q£ qM& ssgaol on 3i& dud t ouiaY 
-hhso ni 93iiB ob ateoq dom bosu&d 1q doaeTiuoaoo sibi \n.B 
| SIMPLICITY EST WRITING, 

>6& ,9001 ,US9lxO<J 90£10H fetlV 8S9fl!iW 

practised by the best writers ancient and modern, has 
been growing out of fashion in England (I write this in 
1800) for some time. The pompous, or what may be 
called the swaggering, manner, was introduced by Boling- 
broke; continued > or 'lather heightened, by Junius and 
Johnson ; till now it is become the only style that pleases 
the mob of readers, and aspires to be taken notice of in re- 
views and magazines. 

Sir John Hawkins somewhere in his Life of Johnson tells 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 297 



us that lie (Johnson) could but just bear the plain, diffuse 
style of Tillotson, and Sir John himself is pleased to say 
that even Addison is growing out of fashion, and that the 
characteristic of his style is feebleness and inanity. The 
graceful ease and classic simplicity of these great models of 
style had no charms for such as had been tutored in Ivy 
Lane. What may we expect in a few years more ? 
-ana teomle ^ti&3i9vi£ur «VI vinsH "io v^ioiaid sldhqmyiaoQ 

890fi£telli sdi Jfiffo f>HB 5WOT$l)Slt TO*!. ^«m\>\>Rm 89^fii 

POETS 

lo 8flofegsiqx9 Jjj*f esla gahijon vlaommoo $som 9tb eonhq^ 
said to be poor. Many reasons for this. The chief— that 
during the infancy or youth of any State, the time when 
great original poets spring up in any country, the public 
has little leisure to attend to these elegancies, and, of course, 
lays little stress upon them: arms, or the necessary arts, only 
are in request and rewarded. Afterwards, when the atten- 
tion is turned to these things, no such poets can be ex- 
pected to arise : but, in the absence of these, people wonder 
how such men could be neglected by their ancestors. Hence 
the poverty of Ennius (See Cic. de Senect.) and Shakespeare; 
and the admiration of such poets, whom the times would 
certainly value, but are no longer able to produce. If by 
any rare concurrence of causes such poets do arise in culti- 
vated and happy ages, they are proportionably valued. 
Witness Virgil, Horace, Boileau, Pope, &c. 

fiftlf t HT9bom DflS JC9f0fI£ 6191117/' jS9Ct 9ffj VjJ b93iiO£iq 

£'ttfr''o»hw I) bnzl*a3 m ' aoi&A \o' iub vnhtorg A99d 

SUPERIOR GENIUS, 
-gailoa vd beouboimi esw % vuunm ( ^w>t^swj». 9ift b$ll&a 1 
There is always a confederacy among the dunces to re- 
present a man of superior genius as superficial in the know- 
ledge of that profession to which he devotes himself: these 
grave persons very naturally concluding from what they 
experience of their own dullness, that it is impossible to 



298 SELECTIONS EROM BISHOP HTJKd's 

understand more tilings than one, and not even that per- 
fectly, where a vivacity of parts takes off the mind from that 
continual plodding, without which they have no notion of a 
man's being able to get to the bottom of anything. This 
prejudice, strengthened, as in such cases it always will be, 
by envy, operated very remarkably in the instance of the 
great Bacon. This was the notion set about of him, when 
his friends pushed his advancement to the place of Attorney- 
General. If it did not take its rise from, it was however 
encouraged by, that wary statesman his unnatural uncle Lord 
Burghley, who, if he had not a great deal of jealousy in his 
nature, had evidently some dullness mixed with his great wis- 
dom : it being otherwise impossible to account for his over- 
looking and neglecting, as he did, his great relation. From 
her minister, I suppose, Queen Elizabeth herself catched this 
prejudice. " She did acknowledge," says the Earl of Essex, 
in a letter to Mr. Francis Bacon, " you had a great wit, and 
an excellent gift of speech, and much other good learning. 
But in law she rather thought you could make shew to the 
utmost of your knowledge than that you were deep. 11 All 
this is but the clown in the poet — 

Si non aliqua nocuisses, mortuus esses. 
VANITY. 

Most critics, and indeed most men, are in the condition of 
Ovid's Narcissus ; they admire in others only what they see, 
or fancy they see, in themselves — 

Cunctaque miratur quibus est mirabilis ipse. 
Perhaps they are not always aware of this illusion — 



Se cupit imprudens 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 299 

But the fact generally is (and if it were otherwise there 
would be but few commendations) — 

— ■ — qui probat ipse probatur. 



A French writer [M. Laharpe, Lyceum, torn. iv. p. 63] 
says that Montaigne was not vain. What an idea must this 
Frenchman have of vanity ! 



The French are the vainest of all people. Yet their 
vanity, so much and so justly derided by all, is the imme- 
diate cause of their successes — 

possunt quia posse videntur. 

BISHOPS. 

E'en in a Bishop I can spy desert. 

Pope's Epil. to Satires, v. 70. 

What had the Bishops done to merit the poet's satire here 
and elsewhere? "Why, they supported the Minister in Par- 
liament, against an unprincipled faction, (headed by Boling- 
broke, and therefore in the poet's good graces,) which con- 
stantly opposed him. Hiac ilia? lachrymal. It cannot be 
denied that our virtuous satirist was frequently the dupe of 
those he lived with. 



IMITATIOX. 

When I am pressed to read a modern piece of Latin prose 
or verse, and for my encouragement am told how exact an 
imitation I shall find in it of Cicero or Virgil, I reply with 



300 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



the Spartan in Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus, who, being 
asked to hear how exactly some one mimicked a nightin- 
gale, returned, "But I have heard nightingales themselves." 

DEDICATIoM if>9raffli Sm0d ° sdT 

When men of eminent genius condescend to write flat- 
tering dedications, and prefix the name of princes and great 
persons in the front of their immortal volumes, they are to 
be understood to be playing the same game as that ingeni- 
ous architect of the famous Tower in Pharos, who took 
care to inscribe his own name on the marble, but when he 
had encrusted it over with a sort of stucco, paid the reign- 
ing prince the compliment of placing his name there ; and 
neither it seems was disappointed in his views — -the prince 
had all he wanted— present fame ; the architect chose to 
expect his from future ages. And thus it happens in the 
case before mentioned, time and historic truth wear off the 
slender whitewash, whilst the name of the artist remains 
indelible on the monumental marble. 



SAMSON AGONISTES, 
v. 1519-1520. 

Manoah. Some dismal accident it needs must bef$t sbh£) 
What shall we do ? stay here, or run and see ? 

The rhyme be and see in this couplet must have been 
accidental, and not designed by the author (though rhymes 
are sometimes intermixed in the chorus,) but they serve 
unhappily to increase the ridicule of that too familiar and 
even burlesque close of the second line, run and see, by 
turning the attention more pointedly to it. To speak my 
mind plainly, this is the most exceptionable passage in the 
whole poem, and not to be justified by any of those reasons 
which may be assigned for bis inaccuracies in other places. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



301 



If the presumption of correcting Milton might be forgiven, 
I would alter thus sue 

".eevlezmedt zeh-QCiiid-om biaed sysd I tsstL** ^bannuten ? 9fe 
stay here, or thither run. 

The chorus immediately replies, 

Best keep together here, lest running thither, &c. 

ftmg .bus seoahq 1o om^n. sdi xite'xq baa ^aohsoibob gnhai 

• T • \ r* CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

From the people, as Locke and others say: rather for the 
people. Or, \ifrom the people, it does not follow that there- 
fore the people may resume and alter it at pleasure. Less mis- 
chief usually arises from submitting to an ill-formed or abused 
government than from resisting it by force. Besides other 
reasons, this may be one for the apostle's precept, u Be sub- 
ject to every ordinance of man." (1 Pet. ii. 13.) He adds, 
" for the Lord's sake," which is the surest and best ground 
of obedience to the magistrate; but he might have said, 
" for your own." 



4 



VIRGIL. 



Qu£e tibi, quae tali reddam pro carmine dona ? 
Nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus Austri, 
Nec percussa juvant fluctu tam litora, nec quae 
Saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles. 

Eel. v. 83 et seq. 

OVT98 ^9fLt iud (jSij-rorlo odi ni boxianeim asrniismoa oir 
And again* 

\6 ,m £>ns mn <onil baoooa odi \o saofo onpaslxud nsvs 
Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poeta, 
Quale sopor fessis in gramine, quale per aestum 
Dulcis aquae saliente sitim restinguere rivo. 

Eel. v. 45 et seq. 

-^BsoBiq lomo nx aoioswDOBfl. airl 'ioi Jwng'sa/j od aomw 



302 



SELECTIONS EROM BISHOP HUED's 



These passages, and such as these, which are frequent in 
Virgil, are in his purest and best manner, that is, when 
outward objects are so described as to excite in the mind 
not images only, but sentiments and feelings; in other 
words, when the description is interesting, as well as beau- 
tiful, agreeably to the precept of the critic, 

Non satis est pulchra esse poemata, dulcia sunto ; 

which is a general rule of good poetry, though applied by 
Horace in the Ars Poetica to the drama in particular. 

And this may be the meaning of Horace's famous compli- 
ment of molle atque facetum [1 S. x. 44-5], intending by the 
former the tender and affecting cast of Virgil's rural poetry, 
and by the latter the correct elegance and high finishing of 
it [see Quintilian, vi. 3.] If this sense of the compliment 
be admitted, it applies to the Georgics as well as Bucolics, 
gaudentes rure Camcence. Indeed it may be applied to the 
iEneid too without impropriety, for the union of the molle 
and facetum, the dulce and pulchrum, is, in a peculiar man- 
ner, the characteristic of all Virgil's poetry. 

The compliment to the prince of the Latin poets, thus 
understood, is not small, but conveyed in a modesty of 
of phrase which the ancients affected. The moderns are 
of another mind, omnia magna loquentes. (IS. iii. 13.) 

i 

FRENCH POETRY 

is only pure prose in rhyme [Boileau, Eacine, Voltaire,] 
yet that which comes the nearest to true poetry in that 
language is a work in prose somewhat inflated, without 
rhyme, Telemaque. 

The French poets excel in justness of thought and purity 
of expression ; but, in all the essentials of the higher poetry, 
invention, imagination, poetic diction, &c, the English 
poets are far above theirs. I speak of the best in either 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



303 



nation; for the rest of that family, the dii minorum gen- 
tium, are not worth considering. 

TRAVELLING. 

They who lay so great a stress on the advantages of tra- 
velling should be put in mind that Socrates was hardly 
ever out of the walls of Athens. His answer to a friend 
who objected this to him was, that houses and trees did not 
instruct him. 

FREEDOM OF CONVERSATION 

between a prince and his courtiers very uncommon. It is a 
rare felicity when that decent freedom takes place in a 
Court, or indeed anywhere else, which Julian tells us was 
used in his betwixt himself and his philosophers. "lis in 
a letter to one Basilius, a philosopher, I suppose, whom he 
wanted to draw to him: "Notwithstanding," says he, 
" that we use a becoming freedom in blaming, upon occa- 
sion, and reprehending each other, yet we do not on that 
account love each other less than the warmest and most 
affectionate friends." [Ep. xii.] 

MILTONI JOHANNIS, 
Angli, pro Popueo Axgeicano Defensio. 

A bitter, vindictive satire against the famous Salmasius, 
who, with the best cause in the world, had yet in his Defensio 
Regis managed so unskilfully as to lay himself open to the 
easiest confutation and justest ridicule. If, instead of search- 
ing through all profane and sacred antiquity to little purpose 
for authorities and precedents on which to found his mon- 
strous system of passive obedience, he had looked into the 
circumstances of the times, and insisted, as he might have 
done, on the unreasonable factions and tyrannical proceed- 
ings of the Parliament and army, after every proper security 



304 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



for religion and liberty might have been obtained, he had 
served the unhappy King's cause more effectually, and had 
avoided giving those frequent handles against himself which 
so acute and unrelenting an enemy knew so well [how], and 
was at all times so ready, to take hold of. But moderate 
principles were to be expected on neither side in a scene 
of such unexampled violence and fury; and, for Salmasius 
in particular, this very learned man, with all his Greek 
and Latin, knew nothing of the true origin of Government, 
and had very crude and imperfect notions about the laws of 
society, and the essential rights of mankind; whilst Milton, 
in the very delirium of an enthusiastic patriotism, was con- 
stantly crying out on his idol of a perfect republic, without 
any regard to the genius of the nation, the circumstances 
of affairs, and every other consideration which prudence 
dictates and true policy requires. The one was drunk with 
notions of royal prerogative, the other, on the most favour- 
able construction, of popular liberty ; and so 'tis no wonder 
if betwixt them, on such an argument, little truth or so- 
briety of reason is to be found. 

Hobbes, speaking of Milton's and Salmasius's books, 
says: u I have seen them both. They are very good Latin 
both, and hardly to be judged which is better, and both 
very ill reasoning, hardly to be judged which is worse ; 
like two declamations pro and con. made for exercise only 
in a rhetoric school by one and the same man." (Hist, of 
Civil Wars, p. 270.) 

His [Milton's] Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano 
against More is written with the same spirit, only it seems, 
from his address to Cromwell and his countrymen, in the 
close of this tract, that he began by this time to suspect that 
all his flattering visions of a perfect commonwealth were 
in a way to be disappointed, and that those precious saints 
who had waded through so much blood in quest, as they 
pretended, of civil and ecclesiastical liberty, were, after all, 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



305 



incapable of so great a blessing. In snort, he seems at 
lengtli to have found out that a set of enthusiasts (of which 
himself was chief) had been contending for a mere chimera, 
or vision, for such is a state of absolute and equal liberty in 
a Republic, let the virtue of the times be what it wiU; much 
less was it to be expected from the corrupt, ambitious, and 
self-interested policy which prevailed so visibly in the pro- 
ceedings and counsels of that distracted time. But he who 
had been so mad for a thorough reformation was to lay the 
disappointment somewhere, and, to save the credit of his 
own judgment, he lays it to the corruptions and vices of 
his countrymen. Compare with this conclusion the Intro- 
duction to Book III. of his History of England, 

X.B. There is a fine panegyric on Cromwell, Fairfax, 
and the chiefs of the Independent faction, towards the end 
of the Defence. 

CICERO 

Tatoxiow on Bii 03 Dns ? VTOan Tuiirqoq io ^nonoiraarfoo si4& 
valued himself extremely upon his wit. He discovers a 
remarkable anxiety in some places (see Ep. ad Fam. lib. 
vii. 29) lest his credit should suffer from the imputation of 
jests unworthy of him. It seems however as if his title 
to this fame was not so clear or so generally allowed as to 
that of eloquence ; for in the letter referred to, where he 
shews himself so solicitous about preserving his character 
as a wit, he speaks with indifference, or rather a calm con- 
tempt, of certain pretenders who aspired to rival him in 
the praise of oratory. Does not this look as if the consci- 
ousness of his own superiority in this respect made him 
secure of holding the first rank ; not so in the other ? 

XOUYELLE HELOISE, 
by J. J. Rousseau, of Geneva. 

4 

There are abundance of fine things in this agreeable ro- 
mance. There is infinite sensibility in the passionate parts, 

X 



306 SELECTIONS PROM BISHOP HURD's 



and nature and good sense in the rest. Yet the conduct 
is so strange and improbable in many parts, that I should 
take the foundation of the story to have been laid in fact, 
rather than fiction. Particularly, what can one think of 
J ulia's hasty marriage with M. de "Wolmar, and of her lover's 
entertainment in the same house with her husband? If 
this be invention, M. Rousseau does not appear so judicious 
as Mr. Eichardson, whose manner he imitates. One would 
take the author for an excessive humourist. Yet his mind 
is so sensible [sensitive] and so inflamed with the love of 
virtue, that one cannot but esteem him. His principal 
characters are religious, and even Christian, yet Julia her- 
self seems to be governed by nc> other religion but what is 
called Natural. God's moral government, the immortality 
of the soul, and a future state, these are the only religious 
principles spoken of. Not a word of the hopes of salvation 
through Christ Jesus. One knows not what to think of 
what is advanced on the subject of suicide, and of prayer. 

Is the ingenious author involved in the gloom of melan- 
choly and fatalism ? Is he benevolent enough to speak 
well of the uses of the Christian religion (as he does on 
many occasions), and yet unhappy enough not to be con- 
vinced of the truth and divinity of it? One knows not 
what to think.* His work abounds in the most amiable 
pictures of simplicity, virtue, and happiness, though mixed 
with painful scenes of human frailty, and the excesses of 
imperious passion. On the whole, a man must have an 
unfeeling heart not to be touched in the highest degree by 
this romance. Yet a sensible man will think it oddly con- 
structed, and the plain good man will be disgusted by the 
scepticism of many parts of it. This last indeed would not 



* His Emile appeared in 1762. Poor man ! one knows now what 
to think. His character is no longer mysterious. [Note by Bishop 
Hurd.] 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



307 



have appeared so plainly but for the Notes, which gave 
him the opportunity of rectifying the Text, if he had so 
pleased, and the sceptical parts had been only the effects of 
preserving character. 

* THE ENGLISH TONGUE. 

In so little repute in Roger Ascham's time that he 
thought it necessary to apologise for writing his Toxophilus 
in this language. He observes that, " for the Latin and 
Greek tongue, everything is so excellently done in them 
that none can do better. In the English tongue, on the 
contrary, everything in a manner so meanly, both for the 
matter and handling, that no man can do worse; for 
therein the least learned, for the most part, have been al- 
ways most redye to write; and they which had the least 
hope in Latin have been most bold in English." He takes 
notice also of the corruption, as he thinks it (others call it 
the enriching) of the English tongue by means of " strange 
words, as Latin, French, and Italian." (Preface to Toxo- 
philus.) 

It seems wonderful that Ascham says nothing in this 
place of Sir Thomas More, who wrote so excellently in 
the English tongue; but I suppose his being a papist re- 
strained him. It must be owned that Ascham contributed 
very much to refine and improve the language, and, as he 
was an eminent scholar, to bring the practice of writing in 
it into repute. 

What he says of corrupting the English tongue by fo- 
reign mixtures, I imagine proceeded from his prejudice. 
'Tis true that practice grew into an excessive affectation 
afterwards, but it seemed necessary at setting out. The 
language was very scanty at that time, being adapted only 
to the common uses of the people, so that when the learned 
began, as they did at this time to write in English, they 

x 2 



308 SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



would of course want words to express their ideas in, which 
were therefore to be taken from the more known and fami- 
liar of the foreign languages. 

f /iM'< oh '.j 'io yjivii-^ odi Ik dh /r f>9fam* j<>uq odi doidvi 
•> j \mn •i'Hiiiiisa lo uyrig, oth Ik dliw U-jmobn Bti How eis 
TORQUATO TASSO. 

His Gieruscdemme Liber ata an incomparable poem, and 
one of the best since Virgil's ; the Classical part vastly infe- 
rior to the Gothic, I mean all that relates to magic and en- 
chantment. The contrary opinion first taken up and set 
about by the French, the most unpoetical nation in Eu- 
rope, and too hastily followed by the English critics since 
the Kestoration — Sir W. Davenant, Hofebes, Dry den, Ad- 
dison. 

lO Mijpfa bin:. ./iMlK.'fi J k> d'JU'il- RUiiHit'mUJ IiR *'J5 r yi OliO. 

■' ' ■ 11 • '■■ L'^-JL J° ftn ' 'i>tii- ft^-ifo'.) oi\t fir voilnrr 
EURIPIDES, HIS 'iKknSeg. 

The most taking parts of this play are not the dramatic, 
properly so called, but certain incidental topics discussed 
occasionally by the speakers, such as the vindication of 
Providence beginning at v. 95, the three orders of men 
composing a state at v. 238, the discourse concerning the 
respective benefits and disadvantages of the monarchical 
and* democratical forms of government at 403, the prefer- 
ence of peace to war at v. 476, the propriety and reason- 
ableness of the rites of sepulture at v. 531, the exhortation 
to the duties of humanity at v. 549, reflections on the rea- 
sonableness of our dependence on the Divine will at v. 73 1 , 
the characters of the seven chiefs that fell before Thebes at 
v. 857, the lamentation on the want of experience in hu- 
man life, and on the impossibility of rectifying our conduct 
upon it, at v. 1080 (though this last is singularly beautiful 
in a dramatic view) and if there be any other passages of 
the like sort. 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



309 



Such as these were the excellences in the tragedies of 
Euripides which made Socrates so much revere them and 
their author. They were certain ethical commonplaces 
which the poet treated with all the gravity of philosophy, 
as well as adorned with all the grace of numbers and poeti- 
cal expression. The dramatic critic Aristotle might some- 
times blame, where the moral critic Socrates would only 
admire. This is what Horace calls, 

speciosa locis, reeteque morata 

Fab ul a 

Ars Poctica, v. 319. 

ooma roiIito fwil*>n!i odl \<l bowolltrt yfh^A bo} Lug ,*) ! *;ot' 

WOMEN. 



One sees an uncommon reach of thought and depth of 
policy in the Constitutions of Lycurgus. One of his laws 
was that the women should have no fortunes. Virgines sine 
dote nubere jussit. For which two reasons are assigned: 1. 
ut uxores eligerentur, non pecuniae; and, 2. ut severius ma- 
trimonia sua viri coercerent, cum nullis dotis framis teneren- 
tur. (Justin, lib- iii.) L e. tliat the men might keep their 
wives in the greater subjection when they were under no re- 
straint themselves from the consideration of their fortune. 
This last J take to have been principally aimed at by the 
legislator's admirable institution. He saw how much the 
peace and virtue of both public and private life depended 
on the good government and strict subordination of the 
women, and what a deluge of evils would unavoidably 
l>i vak in upon the public, as well as domestic, regimen if 
the women were suffered on any pretence to get the as- 
cendant; and, as nothing favours their pretences so much 
as the consideration of the fortunes they bring their hus- 
bands, all occasions of such aspirings in the women were 
taken away by this sage provision, that no woman should 



310 



SELECTIONS FROM BISHOP HUKD's 



have any fortune at all.* The event was accordingly what 
the lawgiver expected — the women being kept in subjec- 
tion, and a strict dependence on the authority of their hus- 
bands, in no country do we hear of there having been so 
many good and virtuous and public-spirited wives as in 
Sparta. It may be further observed that this provisional 
institution was more especially requisite in a republic, 
since, wherever the women are in high consideration, and 
by a false politeness put at the head of things, it is a 
certain sign either that the government is despotic, or will 
soon become so. See the complaints of Montesquieu on this 
head, passim. 

It was in consequence of the tyranny established under the 
Roman Emperors, and which helped very much to introduce 
a general depravity of morals, that women took the ascend- 
ant on all occasions, and, as Tacitus says, " getting free 
from the restraint of such laws as the Republic had provided 
against them, now meddled in every thing, and governed 
everything." (Ann. lib. iii. c. 34.) Lord Clarendon makes 
much the same observation of the English ladies, who came 
into great consequence under the Stuart family: see first 
volume of his Life. The same is observed by Mezeray, in 
the reign of Francis [of France]. See Bayle. 



Learning was so very fashionable in the fifteenth century, 
that the fair sex seemed to believe it added to their charms ; 

* The force of this reasoning was felt by another of our prelates. 
Dr. Walter Pope, in his Life of Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, 
speaking of the many matrimonial overtures made to the Bishop in 
earlier life, says : " The reason why he did not marry then, was that 
he had not an estate or preferment suitable to the fortunes which 
were proffered, and he would not put it into the power of any woman, 
if they should happen to disagree, to upbraid him that she had made 
him a man, and that, had it not been for what she brought, he would 
not have been worth a groat." (Life of Bishop Seth Ward, chap, xiii.) 



COMMONPLACE BOOK. 



311 



and Plato and Aristotle untranslated were frequent orna- 
ments of their closets. One would think, by the effects, that 
it was a proper way of educating them, since there are no 
accounts in history of so many truly great women in any 
one age, as are to be found between the years MD. and 
mdc. (Mr. Wotton's Reply, p. 412.) 



We read of marvellous fine women in romances'; but the 
most amiable I have ever met with in history is the 
Duchess of Guise, wife of the famous Duke of Guise, called 
Balafre, of whom we have the character in the Due de 
Sully's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 416, edit. London, 1778. 

EPIGRAM. 

The following on the Duke of Newcastle was made on 
occasion of Lord Hyde's giving the profits of Lord Claren- 
don's Continuation of his History to Oxford, to found a 
Hiding- School in that University — the author unknown. 

Oxford, in spite of her Detractors, 
Has found two worthy Benefactors : 
Radcliffe a Library decreed, 
Because the Doctor could not read : 
A Riding school is left by Hyde, 
Because his Lordship could not ride. 
Telham, thou dot'st on generous actions, 
O, emulate these benefactions ! 
And on thy Cam's lov'd margin fix 
A nursery for Politics. 

See the malevolence of these flippant poets ! I never 
heard that the Duke, as great a patron of letters as he was, 
ever distinguished any of this family during his administra- 
tion. And where is the wonder? 



312 BISHOP hurd's commonplace book. 



FRENCH LANGUAGE 

for a long time after trie Norman Conquest generally used, 
and diligently taught in our schools in England. All per- 
sons, as we learn from the Polychronicon of Ranulphus 
Higden [see art. Caxton, Biog. Brit. N. E.], were obliged 
to construe their lessons in grammar schools in French, and 
the sons of the better sort were constantly taught to speak 
the language. It was so known a mark of a gentleman, 
that it became a proverb in the mouths of the people, " Jack 
would be a gentleman if he could speak French." This mode 
seems to have prevailed till Edward the Third's time, when, 
as I suppose, our conquests in France inspired the English 
with a contempt of their language. This seems a natural 
consequence, and the animosities which continued after- 
wards between the two nations would naturally confirm the 
people in this contempt. At least, the fact was, that from 
the middle of Edward the Third's reign, French grew much 
out of fashion, both in our schools, and in the houses of the 
gentry, though the perpetual wars in France of course obliged 
great numbers to the use of that tongue. [See what is 
quoted from Johnde Trevisa in the note referred to.] From 
this time the English language seems to have been pretty 
much cultivated till Charles the Second's foreign education, 
and the many excellent works in the French tongue pro- 
duced in Louis the Fourteenth's time, brought this custom 
back again after the Restoration; and our fondness for 
French and French books hath since that time been in- 
creasing, chiefly by reason of their tongue^s being the court 
language, occasioned by our princes being foreigners, for the 
most part, since the Revolution. 



LETTERS 

FROM 

BISHOP HURD 

TO 

BISHOP (JOHN) BUTLER. 



ff'gUOfft .H^JTUP VlUQh 

>xd ) ,TItf rd mod aew 



•d) 



jii bifji t ojjjtt mod tihw y/xotoiixioo aid m^mgod 
tifur noixonxroo rill ,8HOiMijoIbo kbifBxifti i ; d 
-({Bib Ju/oi a JoTiaaoooxia raixC boixisMo agitFP nit 
dfiihoxfJjsO *f3i? i )£hii°iff xxi bxio/b'fxj 6 hm vo/ii/d 

js 9XH/ o, r9boij -iijci'/tcit ■' s-tiifeiif rfdsB'Ofll fjcoitHocr sill 

Jyxod 10' T3j' £ 8J3 8'XXjOvjCjXi ixSXi Okl 5 0£XIX;ib 

.xroiixsuismii- Io 89iix8C9xx/ odj Uxj'ni ^k>Z 

-ox/8 ]yjai£luo i; ^oorrxoa oaoxli 10 Hoxj/sxobiaxioo nl 
-(fOiigicI oiii vpTixxd id Y;ix/G9£oBxbiA odi {b /lHaoi 
«ii boib oil Jyxolo'xoll io jbxIJ bxns JrioizO lo twta 
8HOXH108 10 smislor h 10 laianoo aiTO/T^ill -.&08 f 
-HQ .fM xxoitej 8i.il lo^abraib B ; ao;2TftrI'3 bnx; 
? 8J9ldqxxwj 1 ^itiloq giFCiOxriXJir bxiu ^ 9^9 J 0$ 
{pnsLDili 1 ^ SBir oil oxx/fi/i aid to/odiiv/ viuim 
])9xn.f>ii .u oy&xl oi i oiixv/ «ft axs bodr brgrxiieib 
.8io31aI 8JJtxxuL 'io f ioiixiiX) oldndo'/q 9x1j jagi/< m& 
-wollol odi lo 91X01 9xU olxo/ioooiof HiruRib ax $1 
qoxfeiE xxi o'£B88X3q a 'io faili nil .7 axoibJE giii 
9dl 11 A U %v,([ ix; xuy.Uti id 01 xoij9J a'bmll 
bollft yb/fo;/; /rood fair t^d 'xolioi telt hi >ixixdd 



I 

John Butler, though presumed to be of 
English parents, was a native of Hamburgh, and 
was born in 1717. Of his education we have no 
account, but, though, at neither of the English 
universities, it was evidently liberal. He first 
appears as tutor in the family of Mr. Child the 
banker, and as a popular preacher in London. 
We next find him assisting Mr. Henrv Bilson 
Les^e in his controversv with Lord Eute, and in 
his financial calculations. His connexion with 
the Whigs obtained him successively a royal chap- 
laincy and a prebend in Winchester Cathedral. 
His political attachinents having undergone a 
change, he next appears as a supporter of Lord 
North in all the measures of his administration. 
In consideration of these services he obtained suc- 
cessively the Archdeaconry of Surrey, the Bishop- 
ric of Oxford, and that of Hereford. He died in 
1802. His works consist of a volume of Sermons 
and Charges ; a character of his patron Mr. Eil- 
son Legge ; and numerous political pamphlets, 
many without his name. He was sufficiently 
distinguished as a writer to have been named 
amongst the probable authors of Junius' s Letters. 
I It is difficult to reconcile the tone of the follow- 
ing Letters with that of a passage in Eishop 
Hurd's Letter to Dr. Balguy at page 114. If the 
blank in that letter has not been wrongly filled 
up, Ave must conclude that the Eishop had seen 



316 LETTERS FROM BISHOP HUM) TO 



reason to alter, or at least to modify, his opinion. 
He was too upright -and sincere a character to 
have repeatedly entertained as his guest, and 
written in such a strain of esteem and even of 
affection to, one whom he did not respect. Should 
he even, in the warmth or carelessness of corre- 
spondence, have uttered an unseemly censure on 
a friend, his apology may he made in the words 
of his admirable Sermon at Lincoln's Inn on 
Eccles. vii. 21, 22, quoted in the Addenda, with 
reference to this page. 

n f \tf*3oq vryideH odi no rtoitnom no\ liow orli 6m bfioa 
BISHOP HURD TO BISHOP BUTLER. 

Hartlebury Castle, Sept. 9, 1782. 

......... I correspond with Mr. Heyne upon the same 

terms as Professor Michaelis proposes to correspond with 
your lordship. And I hold those terms to be reasonable 
ones. For, though perhaps we may write Latin as well, we 
certainly do not write it so much and so easily as the German 
professors. The learned professor, you say, intends only 
improvements on the Oxford critic. But improvements, 
currente calamo, easily sharpen into censures, and then you 
know what follows. 

I am preparing to remove to Worcester for the rest of the 
week, and expect to be thoroughly fatigued with music and 
good dinners, the never failing attendants of all our charities. 
Our friend General Freytag has promised to meet me there, 
and to refresh himself after the meeting of the choirs is over 
in this peaceful solitude. If these blue skies and bright 
suns continue, he will not dislike the scene, though it be not 
so extensive and so varied as your Lordship has in view from 
your agreeable walks round Cuddesden. I am, very faith- 
fully, my dear Lord, &c. R. W OliCESTEii. 



BISHOP BUTLER. 



317 



THE SAME TO THE SAME. 

Hartlebury Castle, Nov. 25, 1782. 

. . • . My chief amusement is in attending to my library. 
It advances very fast, and will, I think, be an agreeable as 
well as useful room. It will not much lessen my satisfac- 
tion in seeing it completed, if it should please God that I 
am providing it not for my own use, but that of my suc- 
cessors. . 

When you see General Freytag, pray make my compli- 
ments to him. If I read German, I would trouble you to 
send me the work you mention on the Hebrew poetry, a 
subject which I dare say the genius and industry of former 
writers have not exhausted.* 

I shall always, my good Lord, be much obliged to you 
for any good news of the public, or of yourself; being, with 
great truth and respect, your Lordship's very affectionate, 

humble servant, R. Worcester. 

y w JiDTf en niTDJl qmw y^cni 97/ gq^m ; i jgoao 

njsnnoT) arft se vjiajstj ot bnc /foi/inoa tioinw iim ob ylnjiiJtoo 

Hartlebury Castle, Dec. 11, 1782. 
My dear Lord, — I have your Lordship's kind favour 
of the 6th, and am pleased to find that the parliament meets 
in some temper. Everything now depends on unanimity, 
or the appearance of it at least, which indeed might have 
prevented our present disastrous situation. The ministers 
are the less to be pitied, as they have wantonly created to 
themselves much of the difficulty they have to contend with. 
They may split, as you say, on the rock of Gibraltar, but I 
rather think it will be on that of their own dangerous 

o 

innovations, which their conceit and vanity have driven 
them upon. 



* An evident allusion to Bishop Lowth. 



318 LETTERS FROM BISHOP HTJRD TO 



This place and season are cold enough, and I begin 
seriously to wish myself in London. But my complaint is 
obstinate, and I cannot at present guess when I shall be 
able to move. In the mean time, I wish your Lordship 
the continuance of your health and spirits, and a speedy 
experience, besides, of some good effect from the minister's 
declaration, that he will reward merit in all professions. I 
am, very faithfully, my dear Lord, your most obliged and 
affectionate servant, R. Worcester. 

him f suoir-iloi t i>9riifi*9l b gt'oll ,'ioWjI fed x m ni'Wftl* 

Hartlebury Castle, Oct. 4, 1785. 

My dear Lord, — I had great pleasure in the receipt of 
your kind letter of the 27th past; and am happy to be in- 
formed of your good health, and of the entertainment you 
have found in your late course of German reading. I too 
have had some amusement from the same quarter, in perus- 
ing the prize-dissertations from Gottingen, which the King 
was pleased to send me from Windsor. They do credit to 
the University, and shew the good effect of the royal bounty 
in that place 

I do not wonder that Mr. Travis declines a fresh labour 
till he has received some reward for his first,* which he well 
deserves. And yet I know not how it is to be obtained, 
unless those bishops who have good preferments to bestow 
will resolve to give some of them to literary merit. It was 
natural to expect that Mr. Vernon's f connexions should pro- 
cure him the Canonry of Christ Church, though to the ex- 
clusion of one (I mean Dr. Horsley) who solicited that place, 
and deserves any preferment that can be given him. 

* " Letter to Edward Gibbon, esq. on his History of the Decline 
and Fall of the Roman Empire, in Defence of the Authenticity of 
John v. 7. 1784." By the Rev. George Travis, M.A. Prebendary of 
Chester. 2d edit. 1785, 3d edit. 1794. 

f Dr. Edw. Venables Vernon (afterwards Harcourt), advanced to 
the see of Carlisle in 1791, and in 1807 to that of York. 



BISHOP BUTLER. 



319 



Before I conclude my letter, I must just tell you that you 
will probably receive one from Sir David Dalrymple. He 
is writing on the Apocalypse, and wants to be informed of 
something contained in an old preface of Luther's, prefixed 
to his translation of that book. As he understands that your 
Lordship is skilled in the German language, and thinks that 
by your neighbourhood to the Oxford libraries you may be 
able to gratify his curiosity, he mentions his design of 
writing to your Lordship, and indeed I encouraged him to 
do so in my last letter. He is a learned, religious, and 
worthy man, and I assured him of your readiness to serve 

all men of letters My dear Lord, your much obliged, 

&c. R. Worcester. 

Hartlebury Castle, June 27, 1786. 

My dear Lord, — I thank your Lordship for your kind 
favour of the 22nd, and for the extract from P r ofessor Mi- 
chaelis, which is curious and entertaining. 

As to the ex- Jesuits, wherever they are I can easily 
believe they are doing mischief. But as to this profound 
plot, which they are suspected of carrying on through all Eu- 
rope, of restoring the Catholic religion by the help of Free- 
masons and Rosicrucians, I believe no more of it than I do 
of Father Hardouin's plot of famous memory. Neither do I 
believe that the new English version of the Bible is calcu- 
lated for any such purpose. I take the author * to be a vain 
charlatan, who is set on work by his own importance, and 
not by Jesuitical policy. His judgment of our own reform- 
ing translators is nearer the truth; except that he thinks 
more highly of one of them than I do, and thinks our 

* The translator of the Bible here referred to must certainly be 
Alexander Geddes, an eccentric "Roman Catholic divine. He began 
the work in 1782, and published a prospectus of it (not improbably 
accompanied by a specimen) in 1786, although the successive volumes 
of it did not appear until 1792 and 1797. 



320 LETTERS FROM BISHOP HURD TO 



present version much worse than it is. He calls it imper- 
fect, by which he means that such expert rabbis as himself 
could find some little faults to correct in it; and offensive to 
English ears by its obsolete language, in which he is totally 
mistaken. 

But I wish your Lordship would give me an opportunity 
of talking over these high matters with you at Hartlebury. 
I am constantly at home, and, though not well (for the op- 
pression on my spirits still continues), yet so well as to see 
my friends with pleasure : indeed their company is a great 
relief to me 

Hartlebury Castle, July 14, 179j0. 
My GOOD Lord, — I had your kind favour of the 25th 
past, when I was preparing to set out on my visitation, from 
which I am now just returned. I bore the fatigue of it as 
well as I expected, but not without some difficulty. I am 
now again in this quiet spot, and at leisure to thank 
your Lordship for the communication about Isaiah. I 
should acquiesce in Luther's interpretation, if duration were 
equivalent to generation. Vitringa's solution is, I doubt, a 
little fanciful. On the whole, I am content to put this 
famous passage among those which may hereafter be better 
explained than they have hitherto been. I hesitate the 
more because Houbigant himself, with all the liberty of con- 
jecture and emendation which he allows himself, has failed 
of success. 

Your Lordship should by all means have seized the op- 
portunity of profiting by the lights of that wonderful divine 
you mention, who finds nothing dark or difficult. I wish 
him better success in cultivating his barren acres than he 
has had in meliorating the soil of the Church ; which I think 
is not to be done by lessening the pay of its chief workmen. 

.... I beg my best compliments to Mrs. Butler, and 
return my best thanks to you both for the honour of your 



BISHOP BUTLER. 321 

late kind and agreeable visit. With true regard, my dear 

Lord, your most obliged and most obedient humble servant, 

i>\ i)U?-K^V hnjs :ji iii iooTioo iid -&£fioa brut blnoo 

R. Worcester. 
"^Iiiitol m oil rloiflw m f ^)&M\>ttjM &3SJoaoo m \m a^&s A?.i*vmA 

.noifijgim 
Hartlebury Castle, Dec. SO, 1790. 

My Lord, — I rejoice to hear that your Lordship retains 
your health and spirits so well in London. You certainly 
do well to avoid late hours and the hurry of business. But 
of the latter, as far as I can judge, there is not likely to be 
much this session, unless it spring out of the debate on Mr. 
Hastings's trial. 

Mr. Burke's book* is very entertaining, and, what is better, 
contains much truth and sound political reflection, though 
sometimes dressed in a fantastic mode of expression. I hope 
the innovating humour will decline among us, and that men 
will be satisfied in being happy after the old way. 

This is the time when our friend Dr. Balguy used to be 
in town. But he seemed doubtful when I last heard from 
him, whether he should be able to leave Miss Drake, who 
is declining very fast. Yet his spirits, I fear, will suffer a 
good deal without his usual supply of amusement and con- 
versation in London. He is a much greater philosopher 
than I am, and yet he is not able to bear solitude as 
I do. :t ii , iww Mozmid togiduoH ssu&ood oioai 

Professor Randolph! has sent me his Latin sermon 
preached before the Convocation. It is prudently and ably 
composed, and so I have told him. 

God knows whether I shall be able to go to London 
this year or not. I am sure I struggle with my infirmities 
on nmu ao'ijxj usd sm ^nilnviusjo fix 82otjjj8 i^ti J rnlrf 

* Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790. 

f John Randolph, of Christ Church, Oxford, D.D.; Professor of 
Poetry, 1776 ; Regius Professor of Greek, 1782 ; Regius Professor of 
Divinity, 1783; Bishop of Oxford, 1799; Bangor, 1807; London, 
1809. Died 181:3, 

y 



322 



LETTERS EROM BISHOP HTJRD TO 



better here than I should do anywhere else ; and, such is my 
indolence, that a change of scene has no charms for me; 
only I must regret the loss of some agreeable hours which 
I should pass with my old friends, and particularly with your 

Lordship Always, my dear Lord, &c. 

K. WORCESTER. 

.gsimsna ohsvmob Lhb ngrsidi moil xffod axM \ra lis 

Hartlebury Castle, Feb. 8, 
Dr. "Warton has lately sent me a new edition of his 
brother's Milton.* There are many additions that are enter- 
taining ; but the printer has done his part very negligently. 

The business of the year is now going on in good earnest, 
so that your Lordship will be able to inform me, I do not 
say of what is passing, (for that our charitable news- writers 
convey to us) but what will pass this session .^^^ ^y fiX { j 

lasted on 21 b&e>d \m ^adi baa ? 9i9flw9al9 sjs te\oi es 9*8; w 

Hartlebury Castle, March 10, 1791. 

My Lord, — ... I thank God that we are so quiet 
and satisfied at home. Of the Indian war I am no judge, 
and leave it to the wisdom of our governorship 9H .rlteb 

I doubt a precipitate and sweeping repeal of all the penal 
statutes against the Papists would be dangerous and impo- 
litic ; but no such thing, I suppose, is at present intended. 
These changes, however just, should be made gradually, 
and as the minds of men will bear them, especially as the 
statutes in question are not likely to be enforced. 

The Scotch Episcopalians apply again for relief; and, as 
far as I understand their case, are well entitled to it; but 
as to what your Lordship says of the Dissenters rallying 
for another attack, if you mean this session, I should 
think it impossible. I am not yet quite free from the gout. 
The fit has lasted seven weeks, and is even now leaving me 
reluctantly and sullenly. 

* See p. 176. 



BISHOP BUTLER. 



323 



yra si xfojjg J)irfi ;9sl9 ei9£lvr(a& ob bfuofls I /iBifi S'led isited 

Hartlebury Castle, Dec. 28, 1792. 

My GOOD Loed, — There cannot be a more comfortable 
correspondent than jour Lordship. Your last kind favour 
gives me such an account of the present state of things in 
Parliament, and out of it, as goes very far towards dispelling 
all my fears both from foreign and domestic enemies. 
Pray go on to oblige me with such good news, and add a 
word or two always of your own health, which I hope keeps 
pace with the prosperity of your country. 

Dr. Sturges was so good as to send me his Lambeth Ser- 
mon.* It is a very good one, and his proposals well in- 
tended, but all motions in Parliament for strengthening the 
hands of the Bishops, and increasing their discretionary 
powers, will, I doubt, be received coldly. .... 

I have nothing to say to you from this place, but that 
we are as loyal as elsewhere, and that my head is no better 
than usual, as you .will easily collect from this trifling 
Uwm pi.fi ow c 

P.S. — You would be concerned to hear of Lord Hailes's 
death. He was a good magistrate, an honest and learned 
man, and a good Christian. 

. -oqmi bus euoiogn^b ed bkrow gieiqe*! srb teaisge 39to.t£j3 

.bdbaeini iasze'iq t& si t saoqqus I <§amJ riox/s on .Ixrd ; orjil 

Hartlebury Castle, Jan. 12, 1793. 

My Lord,— I have many thanks to return your Lordship 
for your fresh intelligence of the 7th, though the latter part 
of it be not the most agreeable. Still, there is so little to 
be gained by war on either side, and so much to be en- 
dangered by it, that I flatter myself some means of accom- 
modation will be found out 

I forgot when I wrote last, to ask if your Lordship re- 
ceived some venison from Hartlebury about a fortnight 
before Christinas. The does proving better than usual this 

* A Sermon at the Consecration of the Right Rev. William Butler, 
D.D. Bishop of Exeter, 1792. 

Y 2 



324 



LETTERS FROM BISHOP HURT) TO 



year, I ventured to send you half of one. But hearing 
nothing of its being received, I conclude that some Equality 
man, who thought he had a right to what he could lay his 
hands upon, has intercepted it. 

Who is Dr. Cornewall,* the new Dean of Canterbury? 
and what merit has raised him to that dignity? 

I wish the Bishop of St.David'sf had some better eom- 
mendam. His abilities might be employed to good purpose. 
But a writer must be at ease, before he undertakes a 
work of real importance. 

Take care of your health, my good Lord, and send me 
good news of that now and then, whatever becomes of the 

public Your Lordship's very affectionate humble 

servant, R. WORCESTER. 

Miw i9vii jTuot lo ashr-fid srli no Y$b viqvo. diLsi llxw i/ov 

Hartlebury Castle, Feb. 9th, 1793. 

My dear Lord, — I have many thanks to give your 
Lordship for both your kind letters. There seems now but 
little hope of peace. If we must have a war, I pray God 
preserve us under it ! 

The 30th of J anuary was better attended than usual, and 
with good reason. I shall be impatient to see the Bishop's 
sermon. It was well the lot fell to him, who would speak 
the plain truth on the occasion.^ And luckily at this 
moment the truth may be spoken without offence. 

* Ffolliott-Herbert Walker Cornewall, D.D., Fellow of St. John's 
College, Cambridge ; an elegant scholar and polished gentleman, of 
old descent in Herefordshire, connected with the Jenkinson family, 
and tutor to the second Lord Liverpool. He was successively Bishop 
of Bristol in 1797, Hereford 1802, and lastly, in 1808, Hurd's suc- 
cessor at Worcester. He died in 1831. f Dr. Horsley, 

X The preacher was Bishop Horsley ; and his discourse was soon 
after published under the title of " A Sermon preached in the Abbey 
Church of St. Peter Westminster, Jan. 30, 1793, being the Anni- 
versary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the First. With an Ap- 
pendix concerning the Political Principles of Calvin : 1793." 4to. 



BISHOP BUTLER. 325 

The late tragedy in France* cannot be thought of without 
horror. It must raise an indignation in all men against the 
perpetrators, which may have no small effect in the present 
conjuncture. 

SYjjjdi9toO lo n&sQ wen 9f[t * t IIsw9OToO /id ai oiW 

Hartlebury Castle, April 15, 1793. 

My dear Lord,— I am to thank your Lordship for both 
your kind letters of March. 20 and April 6th; the latter of 
which brought the important news of Dumourier's affair, f 
now in part confirmed; though what is become of him or 
his army we still know not. At all events some good may 
be expected to result to the common cause from the defec- 
tion of so enterprising an officer. . . . 

The fine season that is coming on, and the pleasant walks 
you will take every day on the banks of your river, will 
refresh your spirits after your confinement in London, and 
make you as alert, I hope, as any of our old brethren you 
left behind you, and whose agility you commend so much. 

P.S. Lord Mansfield, as you say, is taken from us. He 
was so good as to mention me with great kindness in his 
will, which you may be sure is more grateful to me than 
his generous legacy, f 

,90fl9'fto iuoffirw mdoqs 9d \&m rtiini sift temoin 

e'flrfr. The judicial murder of the King. 

t General Dumourier, commander of the French army, went over 
to the Allies. 

I 8 Lady Mary Milbanke and Lady Charlotte Wentworth have 
200/. each ; and Lord Kinnoul, the Archbishop of York (Markham), 
and the Bishop of Worcester 100/. each, as a token of their being 
remembered with the warmest affection." (Abstract of Lord Mans- 
field's will in the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1793.) Lord 
Mansfield died on the 20th March, 1793, in his 89th year (see the 
Addenda). 



326 LETTERS FROM BISHOP HUM) TO 



Hartlebury Castle, Dec. 2, 1793. 

My good Lokd, — I shall rely much on your 

Lordship's favour in communicating to me from time to 
time such intelligence of the more important public con- 
cerns, as may be depended upon. As to literary news, I 
suppose there will be none worth reporting. And, indeed 
I grow every day more indifferent to these things. There 
is much quackery in the new books I chance to see, and very 
little information. I suspect our good friend of Winchester* 
is cured by this time of his bibliomania ...... 

. 

Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 4, 1794. 

My Lord, — As to continental matters, they 

seem, as you say, desperate. But perhaps we have con- 
fided too much in ourselves, or in a good cause. Perhaps it 
may please God to quell these Titans by his own outstretched 
arm, or to humble and try us by his judgments, that we may 
be kept at least from running into the unparalleled excesses 
of our neighbours. But there is no end of conjectures. It 
is our wisdom, as well as duty, to hope and trust in God, 
and to commit the issue of this contest to his sovereign dis- 
posal I remain, faithfully, &c. 

K. Worcester. 

BISHOP BUTLER TO DR. HENRY FORD, f 

wovlo om ovh jjov iaaoooa boos sift ni Lna- t bn£ edi lo 

Hereford, March 27, 1795. 

Dear Sir, — Have you seen the Bishop of Wor- 
cester's account of Bishop Warburton just published by way 

* Probably Dr. Balguy. 

t Henry Ford, of Christ Church, Oxford, B.A. 1780, M.A. 1783, 
D.C.L. 1788, Principal of Magdalen Hall, Lord Almoner's Reader 
in Arabic, and Rector of Cradley, in the diocese of Hereford, besides 
other preferments. He died in 1813, aged 61. 



BISHOP BUTLER. 



327 



of preface to the quarto edition of his Works ? It is a masterly 
performance, a true picture of his hero, drawn with so much 
candour, and so amiable a Christian spirit, but without the 
least appearance of intention, that it exhibits an excellent 
likeness of himself. I have been delighted with it in both 
respects, and at the same time entertained by it as an 
agreeable piece of literary history Yours most faith- 
fully, J. Hereford. 



BISHOP HUM) TO BISHOP BUTLER. 

Hartlebury Castle, April 20, 1795. 
Mr dear Lord, — I am much nattered by the kind 
manner in which you speak of the Prefatory Discourse, though 
I know what allowance must, in all reason, be made for your 
friendly partiality to the author. It is enough that your 
Lordship thinks I have not dishonoured my subject. The 
Bishop's Life and writings will be the best vouchers for the 
fidelity of his panegyrist. As to the Bishops Seeker and 
Lowth, I have not only been just, but civil to them. Yet 
it will not surprise me to find that their blind admirers think 
otherwise 

Hartlebury Castle, Aug. 8, 1796. 
My Lord, — I have great satisfaction in your kind letter 
of the 2nd, and in the good account you give me of your 
own health. I call it a good account, because the gradual 
decays and languor of age are of course to be expected, and 
should pass for nothing with either of us, at near eighty. 
You are very kind in expressing so much reluctance to give 
up the thought of visiting Hartlebury. Yet you leave me 
some hope of this pleasure, if the cool weather should con- 
tinue and bring you so near us as Cradley.* However, I 
* The residence ol' Dr. Ford. 



328 



LETTERS FROM BISHOP HTJRD TO 



am too reasonable to press this extension of your journey 
upon you at the least risk of your health or convenience. 

I have had a recent instance myself of the fatigue which 
attends travelling, and the discomfort of being from home 
under many infirmities; I mean in the late visitation of my 
diocese; which, though managed with great care, and at 
proper intervals, was very irksome to me. In general, soli- 
tude, or at least repose, should be the companion of old age. 

But enough on this subject For ourselves, my good 

Lord, we have only to look forward, as you well express it, 
to the end of our journey. Whenever it arrives (and it can 
be at no great distance)^ it will find us, I hope, contented 
and resigned, and not unprepared,, because fortified with 
that hope which enters within the veil. With this pleasing 
augury I conclude your present trouble, and am faithfully, 
my dear Lord, &c, R. Worcester. 

taKtenoo ■& itfnsm xtwo liorfr ^fiaqa ^bsebsn ^momw^ s^S! , • 

Hartlebury Castle, March 21, 1800. 
My dear Lord, — I am perfectly satisfied and obliged 
by all you say on the subject of my letter. I am no in- 
triguer myself in matters of preferment, and am therefore 
not apt to suspect others. If I had known the truth of the 
case, I should not have said one word to you; and indeed 
that one was extorted from me by the importunity of 
a good man, to whom I could not refuse such a request. 
However, I am far from wishing to serve him at the expense 
of your own convenience and honour. 

.gjjormo hits wan sxb rloirlwlo staeiaoo 9i& 

I ^suAi I bn& jiosdnisil ..iM lo himd ambd idysahad I . 

Hartlebury Castle, July 10, 1801. 

My dear Lord, — I had great pleasure in receiving 
yesterday your kind and welcome favour of the 6th, and 
soon after the present of your new volume of Sermons. I envy 
you the power of employing yourself so well and usefully 



BISHOP BUTLER. 



329 



at so late a period of life. I myself at nearly the same age 
am able to write nothing, and even to read but little ; but 
I snail not be satisfied till my nephew has read to me the 
whole of this volume, from which I doubt not we shall both 
of us receive much entertainment, and, what is better, much 
edification. The last words of good men are entitled to 
great regard. When we have drawn this benefit to our- 
selves from your valuable work, I shall place it in my 
library among those of such of our friends as we most esteem, 
and leave them altogether as a legacy to my successors, 
flfio ft bnr>) gsvrrxs fi lavsnsrW .^afrufo^Tiro Jo bus sdt oi 

Hartlebury Castle, July 31, 1801. 

My good Lord, — I have now, at length, gone through 
the volume of Sermons you favoured me with, and can 
honestly join with my Lord Thurlow and your other friends 
in the commendation of it. 

The Sermons, indeed, speak their own merit; a constant 
vein of piety, good sense, and sound divinity, pervading 
them all. I am particularly pleased with the first of them, 
in which you happily explain the important word ayaTTT] in 
your text 

P.S.— I wonder how you found artists at Hereford capable 
of giving so good a likeness of you as that prefixed to your 
book 

[In 1795 or 1796.] 
I thank you, my good Lord, for your kind favour of the 
4th, the contents of which are new and curious. 

I had never before heard of Mr. Reinbeck, and I think I 
can be confident that Bishop Warburton had not, at least 
when he planned, and had in part composed, the Divine 
Legation of Moses ; for he published his Alliance in 1736, 
and in a postscript to that edition he announces, and de- 
scribes at large, the argument of the Divine Legation. 



330 BISHOP HURD TO BISHOP BUTLER. 

Whether Mr. Keinbeck might not have heard something of 
this work by 1738 is not so certain; but I can easily believe, 
with you, that both these divines might hit upon the same 
thought without any communication with each other. In 
this case, as your Lordship observes, the English divine 
escapes that charge of singularity which has so often been 
objected to him, and the Prussian comes in for a share in 
the credit of the discovery. 

I thank you for the offer of translating this remarkable 
passage from the German original, but will not give you 
that trouble, which could only assure me of the fact, and 
of that I am perfectly convinced by your letter. 

I envy you the pleasure you still find in reading ; for my- 
self, I have lost much of my taste for that exercise, or rather 
of my ability to profit by it; but I submit to this as I do 
as well as I can to my many other infirmities. 

I know not whether the repairs of your church * be com- 
pletely finished. I think of going to Worcester next week, 
and of visiting mine, which they tell me is improving very 
much both withinside and without. Such is the activity 
of our new dean f and your old friend Dr. Onslow ! . . . 

* Hereford Cathedral, of which the roof had fallen, was at this 
time, and for some years after, in the course of restoration. 

f Arthur Onslow, D.D. was appointed Dean of Worcester in 1795- 
He died in 1849. 



tiLtfJTUa f iOH>iia Oi ilRi 



t 9V9ilod ^Ixaxio xixjo I Jxxd 02 ioxx ax 88 T I iiow aid! 

dni£8 9dl noqjj ild idgxxn esnivxb easdi diod iadi <sso\ diivr 
ill .igdto do£9 xfaxw aoh&oirwmmoo -£xib toodiiw Jdgjjodt 
9rtivib daxlgxiCI 9xIj f a9Vi9ado qidsJb'ioJ ut/o^ axs e 98so six!* 
fissd 09tlo oa axid xloixlv/- yifoitlirgms lo 9gxsxfo led* eoqeosy 
ixi euufe -s idi nx 3911100 iifiiaaxrxS. oxIj Lxiu e xnxxf c-t f>9to9(do 

ald&li&ti&'t BtdS "gahsdzumi \o i9ilo odt -xo"i uo^ Aasdi h 
uo\ 9vig Joxx Iliw vtxjd e knrgrio xifsxmoO oxh moil oax>8SGq 
bxts ,iojsi oxfo lo 9xn 9'xxjssxj ylno fdnoo doxdw t 9ldwoi* ifidi 

EXTRACTS 

idd&ei 10 f 98x019X9 i&At ioi gJajsj^m r io damn teol 9V£fI I t ll9B 
ob I as aid* ot ^xxndxxa I iutf^ffi^d ihoiq oi \iiiids \m lo 

BISHOP HURD'S 

r if 99 W 3X9(1 19<J89010 X // 0} gXfXOg *io 3fxiid<t J a b9li8XXIXI ^lydoiq 

PUBLISHED WORKS. 

^ivifojs odi ex xfoi/S Jvodim bn& obxanixfoxw dtod donni 
. . . ! wolanO .'xG Lnoh'i bio iuo\ bxiB f xu&fr W9« ujo lo 

gidi Jb 8£*V7 ^nsIM bud loo r x 3d J doxdw lo Jin£>9.cfoiiQ biotexsll * 

.noiJxnoteji lo 9?.'ijjoo 9dJ fli ( i9dfi« Qi&9j^ 9rao8 idi Jjhb t 9rah 
.cQYI ax i9i890'ioWlo obsG bsjflioqqx; esw .G.G t wol8ixO uxdiiA + 

.6*81 ai bsib all 



dim sorifinosnoo lhA ni bne t f)9i9iqi9tai 9i9if b& asT 
iadi t iodi Bidi so'dqmi t 8gniJhw bdiosz edi lo ioaei edi 
BIO sdi lo 89io9ffqoiq 9f{t Ke ? si taffo) kt9n9g ni ^09ffqoiq 
ni Jn9mr{aiiqmooofi 9tamijljj a*i dt&d {^inemBiBoT YreYL bn& 

08XJ39L lo ^loiairl edt 
? bnrr 9W sgnfrhw 980fifr o,tni iool 9wli ? won $ss& 
-moo ii i&di Jaotes ajjoigiboiq islo si ^99ifqoiq iifidT .1 
-mnsrioo 9di ot 89i[os9i baa ? nj3m lo lisl 9ffr ntoA bgonam 
B9i9vif9b 8fiW ii S9gs \mm 10I tarfr ;sgnin"* Ila lo noitem 
9r& moil alsvreJni Q-gisl dilw ba& ? 8noai9q W9l ofr ^^Wxab 
if^g££9l $b iud t i9ffoon& lo i&dt oi \oedqoiq gno lo 9tab 
■^Imiolmn asw bos ? iri9up9il 910m s ij39la 9iom 9mj309d 
^89'i sdi moil bs^Tsqsa ^slqoaq 9no lo sail 9di ni no b9i™o 
-xonkq Bidi 10I ? b9ngia8B sno3fi9i i9ifto gnome ;biiow 9ffolo 
diiw <,i&di 1 89foj2io snivib sdi lo ^ioJisoq9i edi ed oi ^Ifjsq 
^aofflfi bsteiadua ^ogrlqoiq lo iiiiqa edi t noia8imi9Jni 9moa 
Bid baa Ifgamixf ed iadi 1 tehrlO lo gaimoo 9ri> ot 9fqo9q i&db 
-mm. anonoiqanoo ;rsom edi xrr ^9woq Bidi beai9i9X9 39Usoqa 
&di m b9bioo9i anoitoibsiq \mm marii bnnfecf dial bns ,19k 
^T9v do9qa9i ot aaaloiq xioinw ^namBtaeT W9"P1 9rlt lo aiood 
ni <io ^mit lo bn9 9fit ot tuo mn nava brixi { 3in9V9 tn&teib 
^tats^ m 9i£fr nariw 14 bokaq iadi oi ? noi886iqx9 a'ndoL .t<2 

tc .b9toal'xaq 9d fffiifa boO lo 
^marloa oitaffqoiq aidt lo f nafrxa edi aabiaad ? i9diif/I .£ 
mo 89vr989b anigonoo ti moxfw woa^s^ edi lo ^tingib odst 
edi eiioxQ doidw anrnl nx badhoaab ai 9H noi^i9bianoa 
-ni lo nsioqa ai oH. s 8B^^^>f insonmgfim brrs dsu^riB Jsom 



OBJECT AND EXTENT OE PROPHECY. 



The text * as here interpreted, and in full consonance with 
the tenor of the sacred writings, implies this fact, that 
prophecy in general (that is. all the prophecies of the Old 
and Xew Testaments.) hath its ultimate accomplishment in 
the history of Jesus. 

But now. if we look into those writings we find. 

1. That prophecy is of a prodigious extent, that it com- 
menced from the fall of man. and reaches to the consum- 
mation of all things; that for many ages it was delivered 
darkly, to few persons, and with large intervals from the 
date of one prophecy to that of another, hut at length 
became more clear, more frequent, and was uniformly 
carried on in the line of one people, separated from the rest 
of the world; among other reasons assigned, for this princi- 
pally, to be the repository of the divine oracles: that, with 
some intermission, the spirit of prophecv subsisted among 
that people to the coming of Christ : that he himself and his 
apostles exercised this power in the most conspicuous man- 
ner, and left behind them many predictions recorded in the 
books of the Xew Testament, which profess to respect verv 
distant events, and even run out to the end of time. or. in 
St. John's expression, to that period <; when the mystery 
of God shall be perfected. 5 ' 

2. Further, besides the extent of this prophetic scheme, 
the dignity of the Person whom it concerns deserves our 
consideration. He is described in terms which excite the 
most august and magnificent ideas. He is spoken of in- 



* Rey. xix. 10. 



334 EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HTJRD'S 



deed sometimes as being u the seed of the woman," and as 
" the son of man," yet so as being at the same time of more 
than mortal extraction. He is even represented to us as 
being superior to men and angels; as far above all princi- 
pality and power, above all that is accounted great, whether 
in heaven or in earth; as the Word and wisdom of God; as 
the eternal Son of the Father; as the heir of all things, by 
whom he made the worlds; as the brightness of his glory 
and the express image of his person. 

We have no words to denote greater ideas than these : 
the mind of man cannot elevate itself to nobler conceptions. 
Of such transcendent worth and excellence is that Jesus said 
to be, to whom all the prophets bear witness ! 

3. Lastly, the declared purpose for which the Messiah, 
prefigured by so long a train of prophecy, came into the 
world, corresponds to all the rest of the representation. It 
was not to deliver an oppressed nation from civil tyranny, 
or to erect a great civil empire, that is, to achieve one of 
those acts which history accounts most heroic; — no, it was 
not a mighty state, a victor people, 

ttem 'lo B&dhi basllivroiw bus Mxw guroixfiv ddi no.^ooJ. 
Non res Romanae perituraque regna 

vne bus • bhoW biO 10 wsH edi m bsiQvoozib z&dybhohuo %o 
that was worthy to enter into the contemplation of this 
Divine Person. It was another and far sublimer purpose 
which he came to accomplish, a purpose in comparison of 
which all our policies are poor and little, and all the perform- 
ances of man as nothing. It was to deliver a world from ruin ; 
to abolish sin and death ; to purify and immortalise human 
nature; and thus, in the most exalted sense of the words, 
to be the Saviour of all men, and the blessing of all nations. 
There is no exaggeration in this account. I deliver the un- 
doubted sense, if not always the very words, of Scripture. 

Consider, then, to what this representation amounts — let 
us unite the several parts of it, and bring them to point. A 



(13 PUBLISHED WOHKBJ Afl 



335 



spirit of prophecy pervading all time, characterising one 
person of the highest dignity, and proclaiming the accom- 
plishment of one purpose, the most beneficent, the most 
divine that imagination itself can project. Such is the 
scriptural delineation, whether we will receive it or no, of 
that economy which we call prophetic. (Introduction to 
the Study of the Prophecies, &c. Serm. 2.) 
viola six! r io aeafliifgiid edi es ; ahliow edi sham or! modw 
jnoaioq aid lo dgsmi aasiqxa add f)H£ 

.... Is it credible that this perennial fount of prophecy, 
which ran so copiously from Adam to Christ, and watered 
all the ages of the Jewish Church, should stop at once in 
so critical a season, and should never flow again in any 
future age, if fortune or fraud or fanaticism had dispersed 
its streams, if anything indeed but the hand of God had 
opened its source and directed its current? (Id. Serm. 5.) 

'lo stto sve'uioB ot .si jfiifr ? 9iiqm9 livio ta9i% fi teerca oi lo 
MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN. 

&Iqo9q loioh £ t ateJa ~ftd%ua £ ioti 
Look on the various wild and uncivilized tribes of men, 
of whatever name or colour, which our ambition, or avarice,, 
or curiosity has discovered in the New or Old World; and say, 
if the sight of human nature in such crying distress, in such 
sordid, disgraceful, and more than brutal wretchedness, be 
not enough to make us fly with ardour to their relief, and 
better accommodation. 

To impart some ideas of order and civility to their rude 
minds is an effort of true generosity. But, if we can find 
means at the same time, or in consequence of such civility, 
to infuse a sense of God and religion, of the virtues and 
hopes which spring out of faith in Christ , and which open a 
scene of consolation and glory to them, who but must regard 
this as an act of the most sublime charity ? 

Indeed the difficulties, the dangers, the distresses of aP 



336 



EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HURD's 



sorts, which must be encountered by the Christian mis- 
sionary, require a more than ordinary degree of that virtue 
(i e. charity), and will only be sustained by Mm, whom a 
fervent love of Christ and the quickening graces of his spirit 
have anointed, as it were, and consecrated to this arduous 
service. Then it is, that we have seen the faithful minister 
of the word go forth with the zeal of an apostle, and the con- 
stancy of a martyr. We have seen him forsake ease and 
affluence ; a competency at least, and the ordinary comforts 
of society ; and, with the gospel in his hand and his Saviour 
in his heart, make his way through burning deserts and the 
howling wilderness; braving the rage of climates, and all 
the inconveniences of perilous voyages; submitting to the 
drudgery of learning barbarous languages, and to the disgust 
of complying with barbarous manners; watching the dark 
suspicions, and exposed to the capricious fury, of impotent 
savages; courting their offensive society, adopting their 
loathsome customs, and assimilating his very nature almost 
to theirs ; in a word, enduring all things, becoming all things, 
in the patient hope of finding a way to their good opinion, 
and of succeeding, finally, in his unwearied endeavours to 
make the word of life and salvation not unacceptable to them. 

I confess, when I reflect on all these things, I humble my- 
self before such heroic virtue; or rather, I adore the grace 
of God in Christ Jesus, which is able to produce such ex- 
amples of it in our degenerate world. (Sermon before the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Works, vol. viii. 
pp. 28—30.) 

TRUE AND FALSE POLITENESS. 

True politeness is modest, unpretending, and generous. 
It appears as little as may be, and when it does a courtesy 
would willingly conceal it. It chuses silently to forego its 
own claims, not officiously to withdraw them. It engages a 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



man to prefer his neighbour to himself because lie really 
esteems him ; because he is tender of his reputation ; because 
he thinks it more manly, more Christian, to descend a little 
himself, than to degrade another. It respects, in a word, 
the credit and estimation of his neighbour. 

The mimic of this amiable virtue, false politeness, is, on 
the other hand, ambitious, servile, timorous. It affects 
popularity; is solicitous to please and to be taken notice of. 
The man of this character does not offer, but obtrude, his 
civilities : because he would merit by this assiduity ; because, 
in despair of winning regard by any worthier qualities, he 
would be sure to make the most of this; and lastly, because, 
of all things, he would dread by the omission of any punc- 
tilious observance to give offence. In a word, this sort of 
politeness respects for its immediate object the favour and 
consideration of our neighbour. 

Again : the man who governs himself by the spirit of the 
apostle's precept expresses his preference of another in such 
a way as is worthy of himself: in all innocent compliances, 
in all honest civilities, in all decent and manly conde- 
scension. 

On the contrary, the man of the world, who rests in the 
letter of this command, is regardless of the means by which 
he conducts himself. He respects neither his own dignity, 
nor that of human nature. Truth, reason, virtue, all are 
equally betrayed by this supple impostor. He assents to the 
errors, though the most pernicious,— he applauds the follies, 
though the most ridiculous, — he soothes the vices, though the 
most flagrant, of other men. He never contradicts, though 
in the softest form of insinuation; he never disapproves, 
though by a respectful silence ; he never condemns, though 
it be only by a good example. In short, he is solicitous for 
nothing but by some studied devices to hide from others, and 
if possible to palliate to himself, the grossness of his illiberal 
adulation. 

Z 



338 



EXTRACTS PROM BISHOP KURD'S 



Lastly, we may be sure that the ultimate ends, for which 
these different objects are pursued, and by so different means, 
must also lie wide of each other. 

Accordingly, the truly polite man would by all proper 
testimonies of respect promote the credit and estimation of 
his neighbour, because he sees that by this generous con- 
sideration of each other the peace of the world is in a good 
degree preserved ; because he knows that these mutual atten- 
tions prevent animosities, soften the fierceness of men's 
manners, and dispose them to all the offices of benevolence 
and charity; because, in a word, the interests of society are 
best served by this conduct; and because he understands it 
to be his duty to love his neighbour. 

The falsely polite, on the contrary, are anxious by all 
means whatever to procure the favour and consideration of 
those they converse with, because they regard ultimately 
nothing more than their private interest; because they per- 
ceive that their own selfish designs are best carried on by 
such practices: in a word, because they love themselves, 

Thus we see the genuine virtue consults the honour of 
others by worthy means, and for the noblest purpose; the 
counterfeit solicits their favour by dishonest compliances, 
and for the basest end. (Sermons at Lincoln's Inn, vol. i. 
serm. 9.) 

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 

The religion of nature is the law of God speaking by 
the voice of reason : the religion of the Gospel is the law of 
God speaking by the revelation of Jesus. Each of these 
laws is deservedly called a great salvation : the former as the 
basis of all true religion : the latter, as the consummation of 
all God's religious dispensations to mankind. 

Concerning the different purpose and genius of these 
laws I shall not now speak ; at least no further than is nc- 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



339 



cessarv to enforce the apostle's pathetic question, i; How 
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?'* if we 
neglect to observe these laws respectively given to promote 
man's truest happiness. 

The world abounds in commentaries on the law of Nature, 
and on the law of Christianity. But the misfortune is, that 
most men regard the study of these laws rather as an exer- 
cise of the mind, in the way of curious speculation, than as 
an interesting pursuit, which concerns their moral and reli- 
gious practice; which is just the same folly as would be 
charged on those who should spend their lives in studying 
the municipal laws of their country, with a total unconcern 
about the observance of them in their own persons.* 

Indeed the penal sanctions which attend the violation of 
those laws would presently reclaim the student from this 
folly, and remind him of the end to which his skill and 
knowlege in them should be principally directed. And if, 
in the study of general morals, or of revealed truth, he ne- 
glect to refer his speculations to practice, it is only because 
the penalties are less instant, or less constraining; and not 
that either the law of Nature or the law of the Gospel is 
without its proper and suitable sanctions. (Sermons at 
Lincoln's Inn, vol. i. serm. 5.) 

* The reader will admire the delicacy and dexterity, as well as 
the force of this insinuation, as addressed to an audience of the legal 
profession. 



2 2 



340 



EXTRACTS PROM BISHOP HTJRD's 



THE GOLDEN AGE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. 



MR. Addison (loquitur). 



. . . Those two great events of her time, the establish- 
ment of the Eeformation, and the triumph over the power 
of Spain, cast an uncommon lustre on the reign of Eliza- 
beth. Posterity, dazzled with these obvious successes, 
went into an excessive admiration of her personal virtues. 
And what has served to brighten them the more, is the 
place in which we chance to find her, between the bigot 
queen on the one hand, and the pedant king on the other. 
No wonder then that on the first glance her government ap- 
pear able and even glorious. Yet in looking into particu- 
lars, we find that much is to be attributed to fortune, as 
well as skill ; and that her glory is even lessened by con- 
siderations, which, on a careless view, may seem to aug- 
ment it. The difficulties she had to encounter were great; 
yet these very difficulties of themselves created the proper 
means to surmount them. They sharpened the wits, in- 
flamed the spirits, and united the affections of a whole 
people. The name of her great enemy on the continent, at 
that time, carried terror with it. Yet his power was in 
reality much less than it appeared. The Spanish empire 
was corrupt and weak, and tottered under its own weight. 
But this was a secret even to the Spaniard himself. In the 
mean time, the confidence which the opinion of great 
strength inspires was a favourable circumstance. It occa- 
sioned a remissness and neglect of counsel on one side in 
proportion as it raised the utmost vigilance and circum- 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



341 



spection on the other. But this was not all. The religious 
feuds in the Low Countries, the civil wars in France, the dis- 
tractions in Scotland, all concurred to advance the fortunes 
of Elizabeth. Yet all had, perhaps, been too little in that 
grand crisis of her fate, and, as it fell out, of her glory, if the 
conspiring elements themselves had not fought for her. 

Such is the natural account of her foreign triumphs. Her 
domestic successes admit as easy a solution. Those exter- 
nal dangers themselves, the genius of the time, the state of 
religious parties, nay, the very factions of her court, — all of 
them directly or by the slightest application of her policy 
administered to her greatness. Such was the condition of 
the times, that it forced her to assume the semblance, at 
least, of some popular virtues : and so singular her fortune, 
that her very vices became as respectable, perhaps more 
useful to her reputation, than her virtues. She was vigi- 
lant in her counsels ; careful in the choice of her servants ; 
courteous and condescending to her subjects. She appeared 
to have an extreme tenderness for the interests, and an 
extreme zeal for the honour, of the nation. This was the 
bright side of her character; and it shone the brighter from 
the constant and imminent dangers to which she was ex- 
posed. On the other hand she was choleric, and imperious; 
jealous, timid, and avaricious; oppressive, as far as she durst; 
in many cases capricious, in some tyrannical. Yet these 
vices, some of them sharpened and refined her policy, and 
the rest, operating chiefly towards her courtiers and depen- 
dents, strengthened her authority, and rooted her more 
firmly in the hearts of her people. The mingled splendour 
of these qualities, good and bad (for even her worst had the 
luck, when seen but on one side, or in well-disposed lights, 
to look like good ones), so far dazzled the eyes of all, that 
they did not or would not see many outrageous acts of 
tyranny and oppression. 

And thus it hath come to pass that, with some ability, 



342 



EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HTJRD's 



more cunning, and little real virtue, the name of Elizabeth 
is, by the concurrence of many accidental causes, become the 
most revered of any in the long roll of our princes. How 
little she merited this honour may appear from this slight 
sketch of her character and government. Yet, when all 
proper abatement is made in both, I will not deny her to 
have been a great, that is a fortunate, Queen; in this per- 
haps the most fortunate, that she has attained to so unrivalled 
a glory with so few pretensions to deserve it. 

And so, (replied Dr. Arbuthnot,) you have concluded 
your invective in full form, and rounded it, as the ancient 
orators used to do, with all the advantage of a preroration. 
But setting aside this trick of eloquence, which is apt indeed 
to confound a plain man, unused to such artifices, I see not 
but you have left the argument much as you took it up ; and 
that I may still have leave to retain my former reverence for 
the good old times of Queen Elizabeth. It is true, she had 
some foibles. You have spared, I believe, none of them, 
But, to make amends for these defects, let but the history 
of her reign speak for her, I mean in its own artless lan- 
guage, neither corrupted by flattery, nor tortured by in- 
vidious glosses ; and we must ever conceive of her, I will 
not say as the most faultless, perhaps not the most virtuous, 
but surely the most able, and, from the splendour of some 
leading qualities, the most glorious of our English monarchs. 

To give you my notion of her in few words — for the 
dispute, I find, must end as most others usually do, in the 
simple representation of our own notions — she was discreet, 
frugal, provident, and sagacious; intent on the pursuit of 
her great ends, the establishment of religion and the secu- 
rity and honour of her people ; prudent in the choice of the 
best means to effect them, the employment of able servants 
and the management of the public revenue; dexterous at 
improving all advantages which her own wisdom or the 
circumstances of the times gave her; fearless and intrepid 



PUBLISHED WOUKS. 



343 



in the execution of great designs, yet careful to unite the 
deepest foresight with her magnanimity. If she seemed 
avaricious, let it be considered that the nicest frugality was 
but necessary in her situation ; if imperious, that a female 
government needed to be made respectable by a shew of 
authority; and if at any time oppressive, that the English 
constitution, as it then stood, as well as her own nature, 
had a great deal of that bias. 

In a word, let it be remembered that she had the honour 
of ruling, perhaps of forming, the wisest, the bravest, the 
most virtuous people that have adorned any age or country ; 
and that she advanced the glory of the English name and 
that of her own dignity to a height which has no parallel 
in the annals of our nation. (Moral and Political Dialogues, 
Dialogue iv.) 

DEFENCE OF THE ITALIAN POETS AGAINST (SO 
CALLED) PHILOSOPHICAL CRITICS. 

. . . The only criticism worth regarding is that which 
these critics lay claim to, the philosophical. But there is a 
sort which looks like philosophy and is not. May not that 
be the case here? 

This criticism, whatever name it deserves, supposes that 
the poets, who are liars by profession, expect to have their 
lies believed. Surely they are not so unreasonable. They 
think it enough if they can but bring you to imagine the 
possibility of them. 

And how small a matter will serve for this ! — a legend, a 
tale, a tradition, a rumour, a superstition; in short, any 
thing is enough to be the basis of their air-formed visions. 
Does any capable reader trouble himself about the truth or 
even the credibility of their fancies? Alas, no; he is best 
pleased when he is made to conceive (he minds not by what 



EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HURD'S 



magic) the existence of such things as his reason tells him 
did not and were never likely to exist . . . 

So little account does this wicked Poetry make of philo- 
sophical or historical truth : all she allows us to look for is 
poetical truth; a very slender thing indeed, and which the 
poet's eye when rolling in a fine frenzy can but just lay 
hold of. To speak in the philosophic language of Mr. 
Hobbes ; it is something much beyond the actual bounds and 
only within the conceived possibility of nature. 

But the source of bad criticism, as universally of bad 
philosophy, is the abuse of terms. A poet, they say, must 
follow nature ; and by nature we are to suppose can only be 
meant the known and experienced course of affairs in this 
world; whereas the poet has a world of his own, where 
experience has less to do than consistent imagination. 

He has, besides, a supernatural world to range it. He 
has gods and fairies and witches at his command : and, 

O! who can tell 

The hidden power of herbes, and might of magic spell ! 

Spenser, b. v. c. 2. 

Thus, in the poet's world, all is marvellous and extraor- 
dinary; yet not unnatural in one sense, as it agrees to the 
conceptions that are really entertained of these magical and 
wonder-working natures. 

This trite maxim of following nature is further mistaken 
in applying it indiscriminately to all sorts of poetry. 

In those species which have men and manners professedly 
for their theme, a strict conformity with human nature is 
reasonably demanded. 

Non hie Centauros, non Gorgonas, Harpyiasque 
Invenies : Hominem pagina nostra sapit, 

is a proper motto for a book of Epigrams, but would make a 
poor figure at the head of an Epic Poem. 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



345 



Still further, in those species that address themselves to 
the heart, and would obtain their end, not through the 
imagination, but through the passions, — there the liberty of 
transgressing nature, I mean the real powers and properties 
of human nature, is infinitely restrained; and poetical truth 
is, under these circumstances, almost as severe a thing as 
historical. The reason is, we must first believe before we 
can be affected. 

But the case is different with the more sublime and 
creative poetry. This species, addressing itself solely or 
principally to the imagination, a young and credulous faculty, 
which loves to admire and to be deceived, has no need to 
observe those cautious rules of credibility so necessary to be 
followed by him who would touch the affections and interest 
the heart 

Critics may talk what they will of truth and nature, and 
abuse the Italian poets as they will for transgressing both in 
their incredible fictions. But, believe it, my friend, these 
fictions, with which they have studied to delude the world, 
are of that kind of creditable deceits of which a wise ancient 
pronounces with assurance, 44 That they who deceive are 
honester than they who do not deceive, and they who are 
deceived, wiser than they who are not deceived." (Letters 
on Chivalry and Romance, lett. x.) 



PARALLEL OF PETRARCH AXD ROUSSEAU. 

Were ever two men so like each other as this citizen of 
Rome and the citizen of Geneva ? Great elegance of mind and 
sensibility of temper in our two citizens, — the same pride of 
virtue and love of liberty in each; but these principles easily 
overpowered by the ruling passion, viz. an immoderate va- 
nity and self-importance. One sees in both the same incon- 
stancy and restlessness of humour, the same caprice, and spleen, 



346 



EXTRACTS FROM BTSHOP HURB's 



and delicacy. Both ingenious and eloquent in a high de- 
gree; both impelled by an equal enthusiasm, though directed 
towards different objects; Petrarch's towards the glory of 
the Roman name; Rousseau's towards his idol of a state of 
nature. Both querulous, impatient, and unhappy : the one 
religious indeed, and the other an esprit fort: but may not 
Petrarch's spite to Babylon [i, e. the Popedom at Avignon] 
be considered in his time as a species of free thinking? 
Both susceptible of high passions in love and friendship ; but 
of the two, the Italian more constant, and less umbrageous. 
In a word, both mad; but Eousseau's madness of a darker 
vein ; Petrarch's the finer and more amiable phrensy. (War- 
burton Correspondence, letter ccix.) 



KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD. 

It is this art of entering into the characters, prejudices, 
and expectations of others, and of knowing how to suit our 
application prudently, but with innocence, to them, which 
constitutes what we call A knowledge op the wokld. 
An art of which the great poet (Horace) was a consummate 
master, and than which there cannot be a more useful or 
amiable quality.* Only we must take care not to confound 
it with that supple, versatile, and intriguing genius, which, 
taking all shapes and reflecting all characters, generally 
passes for it in the commerce of the world, or rather is prized 
much above it; but, as requiring no other talents in the 
possessor than those of a low cunning and corrupt design, is 
of all others the most mischievous, worthless, and con- 
temptible character, that infests human life. (Ep. to Au- 
gustus, note to line 118,) 

* The Bishop's own character exhibited a remarkable instance of 
the quality which he here so accurately describes, and so nicely dis- 
tinguishes from its counterfeit. 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



347 



MR. LOCKE'S DIVINATION RESPECTING THE ENGLISH 
UNIVERSITIES. 

Now I have taken upon me to divine so nrach of the 
future condition of the universities, let me paint to you 
more particularly what I conceive of their growing improve- 
ments; and in a kind of prophetic strain, such as old age, 
they say, pretends to, and may be indulged in, delineate to 
you a faini prospect of those brighter days which I see 
rising upon us. 

The time will come, my Lord,* and I even assure my- 
self it is at no great distance, when the Universities of Eng- 
land will be as respectable for the learning they teach, the 
principles they instil, and the morals they inculcate, as they 
are now contemptible, in your Lordship's eye at least, on 
these several accounts. 

I see the day when a scholastic theology shall give place 
to a rational divinity conducted on the principles of sound 
criticism and well-interpreted Scripture; when their sums 
and systems shall fly before enlightened reason and sober 
speculation; when a fanciful, precarious, and hypothetic 
philosophy shall desert their schools, and be replaced by real 
science supporting itself on the sure grounds of experiment 
and cautious observation ; when their physics shall be fact, 
their metaphysics common sense, and their ethics human 
nature. 

Do I flatter myself with fond imaginations, my Lord? Or 
is not the time at hand when St. Paul shall lecture our 
divines, and not Calvin; our Bacons and Boyles expel 
Aristotle; Mr. Newton fill the chair of Descartes; and even 
your friend (if your Lordship can forgive the arrogance of 
placing himself by the side of such men,) take the lead of 
Burgersdicius? 



• Addressing Lord Shaftesbury, 



348 



EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HURD'S 



Still, my Lord, my prophetic eye penetrates further. 
Amidst these improvements in real science, the languages 
shall be learnt for use and not pedantry ; your Lordship's 
admired ancients shall be respected and not idolised; the 
forms of classic composition be emulated ; and a set of men 
arise, even beneath the shade of our academic cloisters, that 
shall polish the taste, as well as advance the knowledge, of 
their country. 

Yet, I am but half-way in the portraiture of my vision. 
The appointed lecturers of our youth, whom your Lordship 
loves to qualify with the name of bearded boys, shall adopt 
the manners of men; shall instruct with knowledge, and 
persuade with reason ; shall be the first to explode slavish 
doctrines and narrow principles; shall exterminate riot and 
debauchery from their walls; and, which is the first and 
last part of a good education, set the noble and ingenuous 
youth entrusted to their care the brightest examples of 
diligence, sobriety, and virtue. 

Perhaps in those days a freer commerce shall be opened 
with the world : the students of our colleges be ambitious of 
appearing in good company, and a general civility prevail 
where your Lordship sees nothing at present but barbarism 
and rudeness. 

Nay, who knows but in this different state of things the 
arts themselves may gain admission into these seminaries, 
and even the exercises be taught there which our noble 
youth are now sent to acquire on the continent? 

Such, I persuade myself, if the presage of old experience 
may pass for anything, is the happier scene which a little 
time shall disclose to your view in our English Universities. 
What its duration may be, I cannot discover. Much will 
depend on the general manners and the public encourage- 
ment. In the meantime, if any cloud rest upon it, it will 
not arise immediately from within, but from the little, or 
what is worse the ill-directed, favour which the great shall 



PUBLISHED WORKS. 



349 



vouchsafe to shew to places so qualified and so deserving 
their protection. 

Yet after all I have seen, or perhaps dreamt, as your Lord- 
ship may rather object to me, of the flourishing estate of our 
Universities, and of their extreme fitness in all respects to 
answer the ends of their institution, I cannot be mistaken 
in one prediction, " that the mode of Travel will still con- 
tinue; perhaps its fury will increase; and our youth of 
quality be still sent abroad for their education, when every 
reason shall cease which your Lordship has now alleged in 
favour of that practice." (Moral and Political Dialogues, 
Dialogue on Foreign Travel.) 



ADDENDA. 



ADDENDA. 



P. 36. Warburton and Hurd — " tlieir taste in litera- 
ture." — This assertion must be qualified by a comparison 
with what is said by Mr. Cradock on this subject at p. 127. 

P. 38. Mr. Charles Yorke. — It may seem strange that 
after the close intimacy which had so long subsisted between 
Hurd and Warburton and Mr. Charles Yorke, and the sub- 
stantial benefits both had received from him, hardly any 
mention of that excellent and accomplished friend and bene- 
factor should after his decease be found in the letters of 
either. Of forgetfulness or ingratitude the known cha- 
racter of both Bishops forbids the slightest suspicion. 
The Editor can account for it only from the subject 
being of too delicate and distressing a nature (considering 
the mysterious circumstances of his death) to allow them to 
allude to it, except perhaps in letters deemed too private for 
preservation with the chance of being at some time given to 
the world. The only allusion I find in Bishop Hurd^s 
Works is in a note to his fourth letter on Chivalry, where he 
thus speaks of him : 

" The late Eight Honourable Charles Yorke, who to all the 
learning of his own profession joined an exact taste, and very 
extensive knowledge of polite literature. WTiat follows is 
an extract from a long letter which that excellent person 
did me the honour to write to me on the subject of these 
letters, when he had read them in the first edition." 

P. 46, 1. 4. Mr. A lien. — This notice of Mr. Allen will 
be properly accompanied by some account of his celebrated 

2 A 



354 



ADDENDA. 



residence, Prior Park. Of this Mr. Collinson in his History 
of Somerset gives the following description : 

" This magnificent building stands on a terrace about 
100 feet below the summit of Combe Down, and 400 above 
the city of Bath, from which it is one mile and a half dis- 
tant, to the south-east. It consists of a house in the centre, 
two pavilions, and two wings of offices, all united by arcades, 
and making one continued line of building between 1,200 
and 1,300 feet in front, of which the house occupies 150. 
It is built in the Corinthian style, upon a rustic basement, 
and crowned by a balustrade. The centre part projecting 
from the plane forms one of the most correct and noble 
porticoes in the kingdom, supported by six large, lofty, and 
superb columns. At the bottom of the lawn before the 
house is a piece of water, and over it a Palladian bridge, at 
the head of a considerable lake plentifully stocked with 

fi&.9ifr ban^rfgioif orM bhow doilw sosfq bmvmi* ate 
vi This account hardly does justice to the pleasure grounds 
of Prior Park, which from the peculiarity of the graceful 
slope of the ground in front, flanked by hanging woods, the 
vista terminating in the bridge and lake, with a distant 
glimpse of Bath, form, for their extent, one of the most 
picturesque scenes in the West of England. The house itself 
has of late years been deprived of all its symmetry and 
beauty by the addition of extensive buildings to fit it for the 
purpose of a Roman Catholic college. 

After Mr. Allen's death Bishop Warburton erected on an 
eminence above the house a triangular building surmounted 
by a circular superstructure, (the whole not in the best 
taste,) which he called the Prior's Tower. Over the door 
was a slab bearing the following inscription from the pen of 
Bishop Hurd: oxfw odilo ynomxeH 

MEMORISE SACRUM — 19qflI9j HWO 

OPTIMI Villi, RADULPHI ALLEN. : , 
QUI VIRTUTEM VERAM SIMPLICEMQUE COLIS, 
VENERARE HOC SAXUM. 



ADDENDA. 



355 



This building, now called " The Monument," is still 
standing, though in a defaced state. The inscription has 
long since disappeared. 

It may here be added that under a spirited etching of 
Mil Allen by Hoare of Bath, prefixed to the subsequent 
editions of his Moral and Political Dialogues, the Bishop has 
recorded his further estimate of Mr. Allen's character in the 
following striking words of Seneca : 

** Si nobis animum boni viri lice ret inspicere, O quam 
pulchram faciem, quam sanctani, quam ex magniaco placi- 
doque fulgentem videremus 1 Xemo ilium amabilem, qui non 
simul venerabilem diceret." 

In a letter to Bishop Warburton dated Wimpole, Sept. 
30, 1746, Mr. Yorke. alluding to a recent visit to Prior 
Park, speaks thus of it and its possessors: 

11 I was extremely sorry to be deprived of your company 
at a time and place which would have heightened the en- 
joyment to me. Indeed nothing could have made amends 
for this loss in any tolerable degree but the great kindness 
and politeness with which I was received by -the owners 
themselves of Prior Park. The natural beauties of wood, 
water, and prospect, hill and dale, wilderness and cultiva- 
tion, make it one of the most delightful spots I ever saw, 
without adding any thing from art. The elegance and 
judgment with which art has been employed, and the affec- 
tation of false grandeur carefully avoided, make one wonder 
how it could be so busy there without spoiling any thing 
received from nature. But even scenes of this kind, which 
had alone made other places agreeable in my journey, were 
the least of its charms to me. 1 soon found those scenes ani- 
mated by the presence of the master; the tranquillity and 
harmony of the whole only reflecting back the image of his 
own temper, — an appearance of wealth and plenty with 
plainness and frugality, and yet no one envying because 
all are warmed into friendship and gratitude by the rays 

2 a 2 



356 



ADDENDA. 



of his benevolence." (Warburton Correspondence, 499, 
8vo. edit.) 

Another letter of Mr. Yorke to Bishop Warburton, 
dated July 11, 1764, on occasion of Mr. Allen's death, con- 
tains the following elegant and feeling encomium : 

" If an event of that sort could strike or wound me after 
so many losses in my own family immediately following one 
another, this event must make the strongest impression, as 
it related to myself, who regret a friend, and to your Lord- 
ship who mourns a parent. But such he truly was to all 
mankind, — to all who came within the reach' of his care and 
bounty. In short he was a rare example of piety and 
charity; one of those excellent persons who always die too 
soon for the world. He will be sincerely and universally 
lamented. And that circumstance I have often thought a 
pleasing advantage which amiable and benevolent men have 
over the great and ambitious." (Ibid. p. 608.) 

P. 49, 1. 12. — The following passages omitted in printing 
the letter are here restored : — 

U I have been to call on Whitehead,* but to no purpose. 
My engagements are so many, and he lives at such a dis- 
tance, that I almost despair of seeing him. However, I 
shall make another attempt one of these days. 

* William Whitehead was the son of a baker at Cambridge ; 
educated at Winchester, where he was distinguished as a classical 
scholar: Sizar of Clare Hall 1735, M.A. 1743. In 1750 he wrote 
his " Koman Father," and in 1754 his " Creusa," and out of the pro- 
ceeds of his plays he paid his father's debts. In 1754 he went abroad 
as Governor to Lord Villiers and Lord ISTuneham. He was made 
Secretary and Registrar of the Order of the Bath ; and in 1757 Poet 
Laureate. By his amiable manners and intelligent conversation he 
recommended himself to the special notice of Powell, Balguy, Ogden, 
Stebbing, and Hurd. He died in 1785, aged 70, and his Memoirs 
were published by Mason in 1788. (See Nichols's Lit. Anecd. vol. iii. 
p. 196.) 



ADDENDA. 



357 



" I met at Mr. Charles Yorke's the other day our friend 
Dr. Tunstall.* He is grown enormously fat, whether it be 
the effect of a good living or a good wife I know not. 
However, he still talks of Tully, and has even enlarged his 
plan, being determined, it seems, to publish all his other 
books, as well as his Epistles to Atticus. We laughed at 
what may be called the doctor's critical justice. He has 
robbed Cicero of one part of his writings, but resolves to 
make amends for this injury by giving him a better thing, 
for he has unanswerable reasons, he says, for ascribing the 
books ad Herennium to him, which will more than balance 
the loss of a few letters. 

" The talk of the accusation seems to be over, though 
the prosecution against the Kecorder of N. is to go on with 
vigour. The S.f made a famous speech to the Council, 
which is said to have had a prodigious effect. Mr. Pelham 
desired a copy of it, which was given him, and is handed 
about in MS. among the great men. I have not got a sight 
of it yet, but 'tis spoken of with admiration." 

P. 53. TJie Delicacy of Friendship. — It is not to be won- 
dered at that the difference of the Bishop's temperament 
and opinions, and particularly his connection with Bishop 
Warburton, should have drawn upon him the intemperate 
and vituperative censure of that virulent controversialist 
Archdeacon Blackburne, who in the course of this quarrel 
assailed him in connection with Bishop Warburton in a 
passage of a bitter anonymous letter which is reprinted in 

-Nichols's Illustrations of Literature, iii. 720. 

DflOTafl jnoTf '.nl 1 £ v I nJ ?hs'jb 6 'DotBl aid busq sa evclq fcm io abeso 

* James Tunstall, of St. John's College, Cambridge, Public Orator 
1741. He wrote " An Epistle to Dr. Conyers Middleton," question- 
ing the genuineness of the Letters between Cicero and Brutus, fol- 
lowed by " Observations " on the same to confirm what he had before 
written. Born 1710, died 1772. 

f Hon. Charles Yorke, Solicitor- General. 



358 



ADDENDA. 



P. 69, 1. 12, : i Decorate my grounds. ' — The Editor is 
informed by the Eev. K. Waterfield, tlie present incumbent 
of Thurcaston, that although, in consequence of the great 
alterations in the Kectory House and gardens, there is 
nothing to connect them directly and personally with Bishop 
Hurd, there yet remains in the latter a long grass bank with 
fine spruce firs overshadowing it, still called Mason's Walk. 
Mr. Waterfield adds that, in the Bishop's time, the tithe- 
barn stood in front of the house. This circumstance gives 
credibility to a report that the Bishop opposed the removal 
of this unsightly object,, that he might have constantly 
before him a memento of his humble origin. 

P. 69.. Lmv Thurcaston s sequestered bower.- — This quo- 
tation is from, Mason's elegy to his friend,, written in 1759, 
and prefixed as a dedication to the former editions of his 
Caractacus. 

The concluding lines of this elegant address possess more 
than poetical truth, as a picture of Hurd's character:. ; 

—si oa^oMb oiffqoaolirlq tneioaa edilo aohlaheb 

Who graced by every liberal art,. friflX fiA ' 

That best might shine among the learned train,, -ni ,1b9T 

Yet more excell'd in morals and in heart: 
Whose equal mind could see vain Fortune shower 

Her flimsy favours on the fawning crew, ' ^ ; 
While in low Thurcaston's sequester'd bower 

She fixed him distant from promotion's view ;f J0 -^T 
Yet, shelter' d there by calm Contentment's wing, i&m 

Pleased he could smile, and with sage Hooker's eye: j G |) 
" See from his mother earth God's blessings spring, 

" And eat his bread in peace and privacy." 

^.39ugoIsRJL adi cS eSsAoTi) .awl xitat 

P. 69, 1. 26. Mr. Cradock says of Hurd, " He was distant 
and lofty." — In abatement of the censure implied' in this 
passage may be quoted the words of one who, besides his 
other claims to respectful attention, had known the Bishop 
long and intimately, the late Mr. John Nichols his printer: 



ADDENDA. 



359 



" Let ine be allowed to boast that, from the commence- 
ment of my typographic life to the day of his death, I had 
the honour of uninterruptedly enjoying his Lordship's pa- 
tronage .... I had often the satisfaction of attending 
this good prelate officially, when he was only Mr. Hurd, in 
the business of his various learned works, and uniformly 
experienced the same gratifying affability, which was not 
lessened by the progressive dignities to which he was ad- 
vanced. After Dr. Hurd was made a Bishop I have fre- 
quently been honoured with an invitation to his hospitable 
dinners, with a very small but select party of his Lordship's 
friends, when the ordinary feast, neat and elegant as it always 
was, formed the least part of the treat. The rich stores of 
a capacious and highly-cultivated mind were opened with 
the utmost placidity of manner, and were a never-failing 
source of instruction and delight." (Nichols's Literary Anec- 
dotes, vol. vi. p. 600.) 

siom 2392goq zrt'tbhss Sixmos grjfo i 89n fJ grnimbn >o arff 

P. 73. Moral and Political Dialogues. — Bishop. Hurd's 
definition of the ancient philosophic dialogue is — 

" An imitated and mannered conversation between certain 
real, known, and respected persons on some useful or serious 
subject, in an elegant and suitably adorned, but not charac- 
teristic, style." 

wa'IO ■oxiIflWSI 9JUJ no gJIJOV/it Y"Ulifl 

Its object he further expresses thus: 

" Though truth be not formally delivered in dialogue, it 
may be insinuated, and a capable writer will find means to 
do this so effectually, as in discussing both sides of a ques- 
tion to engage the reader insensibly on that side where the 
truth lies." (Preface to the Dialogues.) 

This idea the Bishop has very successfully kept in view, 
and worked out in his own instructive and elegant perform- 
ances. 

With how much diligence he had prepared himself for 
the composition of this work is evident from the analysis 



360 



ADDENDA. 



of Lucian's Dialogues and of the plays of Aristophanes 
which his Commonplace Book contains. 

P. 78, L 2. Lord Clarendon 1 s New History. — See Bishop 
Hurd's Letter to Bishop Warburton on this subject, dated 
Aug. 26, the same year. (Correspondence, Letter cxxxiv.) 

P. 84, 1. 25. Plutarch's Miscellanies. — Of this treasury of 
good sense and practical philosophy Bishop Hurd has given 
in his Commonplace Book a complete analysis. This was 
evidently one of the sources from which both he and his 
friend Dr. Balguy drew their sober estimate of men and 
things. 

It is much to be lamented that the works of an author so 
calculated to improve the judgment and form the character 
should make no part of the course of study at our uni- 
versities. 

P. 86, 1. 4. Little Ralph Warburton. — Ealph Allen War- 
burton, only son of Bishop Warburton. He was born in 
1756, received his early education under the Rev. Richard 
Graves, of Claverton, author of The Spiritual Quixote, and 
was entered of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, under the tuition of 
the Reverend Samuel, afterwards Bishop, Hallifax. Of his 
application to the noble study of the Roman Civil Law under 
that accomplished jurist, the Editor possesses an interesting 
evidence in a copious body of notes on part of Dr. Hallifax's 
analysis of that science. He died of consumption in 1775, 
at the early age of 19, to the inexpressible grief of his father, 
who, being then in the declineof his faculties, never recovered 
from this final shock. 

With reference to this promising youth Mr. Malone records 
the following anecdote on the authority of Lord Hills- 
borough : — 

" Bishop Warburton being asked by a friend to what 



ADDENDA. 



361 



profession lie meant to breed his son, who died young, 
said, it should be as he turned out. If he found him a lad 
of very good parts, he should make him a Lawyer ; if but 
mediocre, he should bring him up a Physician; but if he 
proved a very dull fellow, he should put him into the 
Church." (Prior's Life of Malone, p. 445.) 

The following epitaph inscribed on the family tomb in the 
churchyard of Claverton, near Bath, is attributed to Bishop 
Hurd:— 

Near this place 
lie the remains of 
RALPH ALLEN WARBURTON, 
the only son of 
William Warburton, Lord Bishop of Gloucester, 
and Gertrude his wife, 
who died July 28, 1775, 
aged 19 years. 
He was a youth 
eminently distinguished 
for goodness of heart, elegance of manners, 
and gracefulness of person. 
How transient are human endowments ! 
How vain are human hopes ! 
Reader, 
prepare for eternity. 

P. 89, I. 11. Observations, i. e. on Spenser's Faery 
Queen. 

P. 92, 1. 27. " He even desired," &c— For the cause 
of a temporary misunderstanding between Mr. Pitt and 
Mr. Allen during the preceding year, see Lord Mahon's 
History of England, vol. ii. pp. 40, 41; see also the 
Chatham Correspondence. 

P. 94, note. Dr. Thomas Leland. — In the year 1762 the 
fanatical excesses of the time drew from Bishop Warburton 



ADDENDA. 



his "Doctrine of Divine Grace," &c. a work strongly 
marked by the characteristic excellences and defects of the 
writer; on the one hand his powerful advocacy of truth and 
exposure of error ; on the other his light and ludicrous 
manner of treating the most serious subjects, and the un- 
sparing severity of his personal castigations. An assertion in 
this work, on the nature and extent of inspired eloquence, 
having been controverted by Dr. Leland, the subject was 
taken up with undue warmth and unmerited stringency of 
remark by Dr. Hurd, who in the year 1764, (not in 1758, 
as erroneously stated at p. 72,) wrote the pamphlet here 
alluded to. 

P. 96. — To the extracts from Mr. CradocFs Reminiscences 
the following addition referring to this period should be 
made: 

16 1 was rather apprehensive of giving him (Dr. Hurd) 
offence by bringing out a tragedy at Covent Garden Theatre 
as taken in part from Voltaire; but, on the contrary, he 
mentioned it himself to me, and congratulated me on my 
success, but added, ' I think you have been rather remiss 
in not sending me a copy of it.' Of course I immediately 
took the hint; and he not only received it cordially, but 
afterwards spoke handsomely of the tragedy. 

"It was about this period that Mr. Mason's Life of Gray 
was advertised ; and he desired me to read it as soon as it 
appeared, and give him the particulars of the contents. I 
then perceived there was an interregnum in the friendship 
between him and Mr. Mason ; for as soon as I looked over 
the book I was fully convinced that he had never been con- 
sulted about the publication. The censures passed on the 
University of Cambridge would by no means have suited ; 
and I informed him that I was quite astonished at some of 
the affected vulgarisms in the letters of Mr. Gray. 4 You 
were not aware then,' said he, ' of Mr. Gray's peculiar 



ADDENDA. 363 

humour?' — 4 I was aware, Sir, that Mr. Gray was a keen 
satirist; for I possess some of his epigrams, and some 
epitaphs that may as properly be called epigrams; but I 
could not have believed that Mr. Gray could have written 
such passages as, ' On a bank squats me I;' and ' Fray take 
care of catching an agoe.' — 'I have no reply to make to you 
on the subject/ said he; ' the letters were never selected by 
me.' But not long afterwards he hastily accosted me with, 
' Have you read the heroic postscript ? * "Who, I entreat you 
to tell me, is the author? ' c It has been imputed to several, 
Sir; amongst others, to your friend Mr. W'alpole; but Mr. 
Garrick thinks it was written in part, if not wholly, by Sir, 
Mason.' c And you could not give me better authority,' 
replied he ; ' Mr. Garrick is a very discreet man, I had the 
pleasure of passing a most agreeable day in his company at 
Bishop Warburton's palace at Gloucester.' Some interrup- 
tion of the cordiality subsisting formerly between the 
eminent critic and 'the author of Elfrida had then certainly 
taken place ; but I am happy to add that Mr. Mason after- 
wards in very feeling terms addressed a sonnet to the ' Friend 
of his youth;' and I am convinced that all unfortunate 
differences were then entirely obliterated." (Miscellaneous 
Memoirs, p. 183-4.) 

P. lOo, Lord Lyttelton. — Hurd r s coldness and distance 
on this occasion seems traceable to a feeling of disgust 
towards Lord Lyttelton for having changed his side in 
politics. (Seep. 85.) 

1370 baiool I gG nooa sb to) \&ozsM. ,.iM Las mhl noawtorj. 
P. 108, 1. 16. Mr. Addison 1 s writings. — In a letter to his 

friend Mason, dated Thurcaston, Oct. 26, 1770, Bishop 

Hurd says; " I have found an amusement lately in turning 

over the works of Mr. Addison. I set out many years ago 

with a warm admiration of this amiable writer. I then took 



* Heroic Epistle to Sir "William Chambers. 



364 



ADDENDA. 



a surfeit of His natural easy manner, and was taken (like my 
betters) with, the rapturous and high nights of Shakespeare. 
My maturer judgment, or lenient age (call it which you 
will) has now led me back to the favourite of my youth. 
And here I think I shall stick : for such useful sense in so 
charming words I find not elsewhere. His taste is so pure, 
and his Virgilian prose (as Dr. Young calls it) so exquisite, 
that I have but now found out, at the close of a critical life, 
the full value of his writings." 

The Bishop's admiration of Addison was not however 
blind and undiscriminating, as the following just and elegant 
estimate of his talents as a critic plainly shows : 

" It gives one pain to refuse to such a writer as Mr. 
Addison any hind of merit which he appears to have valued 
himself upon, and which the generality of his readers have 
seemed willing to allow him. Yet it must not be dissembled 
that criticism was by no means his talent. His taste was 
truly elegant, but he had neither that vigour of understand- 
ing, nor chastised philosophical spirit, which are so essential 
to this character, and which we find in hardly any of the 
ancients besides Aristotle, and but in a very few of the 
moderns. For what concerns his criticism on Milton in 
particular, there was this accidental benefit arising from it, 
that it occasioned an admirable poet to be read, and his 
excellences to be observed. But for the merit of the work 
itself, if there be any thing just in the plan, it was, because 
Aristotle and Bossu had taken the same route before him. 
And as to his own proper observations, they are for the most 
part so general and indeterminate as to afford but little in- 
struction to the reader, and are, not unfrequently, altogether 
frivolous. They are of a kind with those in which the 
French critics (for I had rather instance the defects of 
foreign writers than of our own) so much abound, and which 
good judges agree to rank in the worst sort of criticism." 
(Epistle to Augustus, note on v. 214.) 



ADDENDA. 



365 



P. 112. Petitioners. — A petition for relief from subscrip- 
tion to the Thirty-nine Articles, on behalf of the clergy 
and others, signed by 250 clergymen, was offered to the 
Lower House, Feb. 6, 1772, but rejected by 217 to 71. 

- 

P. 120. Office of Preceptor to the Princes. — In this im- 
portant and arduous appointment the Bishop, as Preceptor, 
was associated with George, Duke of Montagu, as Governor 
of the Princes. Of this distinguished person, who died 
May 28, 1790, the Bishop, in his Biographical Notes, 
speaks as follows : — 

"He was a nobleman of singular worth and virtue; of 
an exemplary life ; and of the best principles in Church and 
State. As Governor to the Prince of Wales and Prince 
Frederick he was very attentive to his charge, and executed 
that trust with great propriety and dignity. The Preceptor 
was honoured with his confidence ; and there never was the 
least misunderstanding between them, or so much as a dif- 
ference of opinion as to the manner in which the education 
of the Princes should be conducted." 

P. 127, L 7.— Mr. Cradock adds here: 

" After this his Lordship became quite imbecile at times, 
and so nearly childish that some of his company desired 
him to name the trump at whist ; yet, strange to tell, he 
wrote a complimentary letter afterwards to Mr. Nichols on 
his History of Leicestershire, and I immediately recognised 
the same hand and style as when he recommended me, in 
early life, to the tutor of Emanuel College." 

Upon this passage the following commentary was made 
in a work published soon after : — 

" While this part of the work was passing through the 
press (Feb. 14, 1828) I for the first time saw Mr. Cradock's 
Literary and Miscellaneous Memoirs, vol. iv. The anecdote 
of the conversation of the King is imperfectly told, and as 



\ 



366 



ADDENDA. 



to another anecdote I was present on an occasion in the 
summer of 1793, when the same subject was started. At 
the Bishop's palace in Worcester, the prebendaries of the 
cathedral then in residence, my father, myself, and some other 
company, perhaps Mr. Professor Mainwaring drank tea 
after evening service, when the Bishop called the French 
fugitives emigrants, and on somebody asking his reason for 
this deviation from common pronunciation, expressed his 
astonishment that it should be pronounced otherwise. My 
father, with his wonted quickness, replied, ' I presume your 
lordship does not always adhere so strictly to the quantity 
of the original when you pronounce words derived from the 
Latin ; would you in any case say to me, Doctor, your 
medicinal prescription irritates me? ' The Bishop very 
sensibly replied only with a hearty laugh. 

" The statement about the Professor and the reflections on 
the Bishop appear to me of very doubtful character. The 
Bishop's intellect at this time was unchanged. He had no 
public day after, and saw little private company. The ob- 
servation that he became childish is quite incorrect, and that 
he suffered any company so to treat him like a child 
as to desire him to name the trump is perfectly untrue. 
This is a reflex anecdote from a neighbouring diocese, and a 
contemporary Right Honourable Bishop. Indeed, except on 
his birthday, about Christmas, which we always spent at 
Hartlebury Castle, I never saw cards; we played for six- 

" The last letter I received from Bishop Hurd was in 
1801, on the death of my father. It was written without 
tremor in his usually beautifully distinct hand. I saw him 
for the last time the next year, when he was more than eighty, 
and his intellect was then unimpaired, and I have indispu- 
table authority for asserting that he continued unchanged 
in mind and manner to the end of life." (Johnstone's Life 
of Dr. Samuel Parr, vol. i. p. 324, note.) 



ADDENDA. 



P. 134. Dissenters Bill— A Bill for tlie further relief 
of Protestant Dissenters and Schoolmasters was carried by 
77 to 6 in the House of Commons, on March 10, 1779, and 
with great facility in that of Lords also. 

issl iLniiib \mW*yMs«siVL ^o^'W^ . l v\L ac^aitas^ t yTi£qfii09 
P. 137, note.— On the 7th of June, 1779, Bishop Hurd 
lost his old and best friend Bishop AVarburton, whose 
memory he recorded in the following epitaph inscribed on 
his monument in Gloucester Cathedral: — 
iuo-; 9froj89iq I J f b9il<p^3a§&0#f> batnw girl ffriw t i9ftS& 
of WILLIAM TVARBURTOX, D.D. 
for more than 19 years Bishop of this see; 

tuoy TQtood t sm QJ vaf^V* flijooy hhsow ;niteJ 
of the most sublime genius, and exquisite learning : 

both which talents 

he employ€d through a long life, 

no anpiroslbi orft ba& m£^)^pddb Suoda iaomstete 9fIT J> 
9nT .i9J0Bi£if: of wnat he fi rm ly believedj-fBsqqfi qon~ai<I edi 
the Christian religion, 

-do 9fIT , vfl^crmpo 9*&viig^jil wj& W /reiU yisb -iiduq 
of what he esteemed the best establishment of it,— 

the Church of England. 

blMo tB. 9iil iTurLi£9^ oi qa yn^qmoo yrrs b9'i9'rrn3 9if 
On this epitaph Mr. Cradock observes: 

" A brother Bishop, Dr. Thurlow, once said to me, ' Could 
your friend find nothing better to say in honour of his former 
idol, than that he died in the belief of what he conceived to 
be Christianity?' I gave a copy of Hurd's epitaph, soon 
after it was put up, to some learned dignitaries : they thought 
it strangely ambiguous, and one could scarcely believe it was 
exactly copied." (Cradock's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 205.) 

This statement does little credit to the discernment of 
either Mr. Cradock himself, or the dignitaries in question. 

. 3 ffl €£W 9A.J5I9nW ,1&jY 1X911 9flJ 901X1 J££l 9fi J 101 

Ihe evident meaning oi the passage is, 

-uqaibni svjsrf TbajP r mu %9nr asw JosIIstni airi Lab 

" Of what he firmly believed,— 

.slid zsnotendoiW^Pd 1 "? %fefcfe£m bn«B bnim in 

and r . np q fo„ mB g ] 
of what he esteemed the best establishment of it, — 
(namely) the Church of England." 



368 



ADDENDA. 



P. 138, 1. 2. Sermons preached at Lincoln 's Inn.— 
Dr. Beattie to the Bishop of Worcester: 

" Aberdeen, 21 July, 1786. 
" I was very anxious to see your Lordship's Sermons 
preached at Lincoln's Inn, of which I had heard such an 
account as greatly raised my curiosity. But even the best 
books find their way slowly into this remote corner. I 
have read the book once and again with great delight, and 
it will be my own fault if I am not the better for it as 
long as as I live. My approbation can add nothing to its 
fame; yet I must beg leave to say that I particularly admire 
your happy talent in expounding difficult texts, and the 
perspicuity, conciseness, and elegance of your style, which 
I look upon as the perfection of pulpit eloquence, being 
equally captivating to the learned, and intelligible to the 
simple." 

P. 138, 1. 2. — The following extracts are from Mr. 
Green's Diary of a Lover of Literature : — 

" Oct. 3, 1799.— Read the first volume of Hurd's Ser- 
mons at Lincoln s Inn. In the third he not only maintains 
that we have a natural sense of right and wrong, inde- 
pendent of all revelation, but insists that without it we 
could never ascertain whether any revelation were true: 
and then vindicates Christianity, not simply as useful from 
confirming, illustrating, and enforcing the dictates of this 
sense, but as necessary for the redemption of mankind. 
This is after his distinguishing manner. In the eighth he 
makes sympathy the natural parent of the social virtues, 
observing that God has implanted in man not only the power 
of reason, which enables him to see the connexion between 
his own happiness and that of others, but also certain in- 
stincts and propensities which make him feel it, and with- 
out reflection incline him to take part in foreign interests ; 



ADDENDA. 



369 



for, among otker wonders of our make, this is one, that 
we are so formed as, whether we will or no, to rejoice with 
them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep; and 
in. the next discourse he adduces this principle as that 
natural corrective upon ' a conscious sense of dignity ' 
(leading by itself to an offensive, injurious pride) which con- 
stitutes politeness, and maintains that the perfection of our 
nature consists in the due operation of both these principles. 
His tenth sermon, and the last in the volume, are fine ex- 
amples of his * toils in chasing the subtle.' " 

" October 14th. — Eead the third and last volume of 
Hurd's Sermons. The first of these is of a very peculiar 
character: there is a pithy sententious brevity of period 
and deep earnestness of manner in it strikingly different 
from what we meet with in any of the other discourses. 
The fourth, in which he deduces the divinity of the Gospel 
from 'Never man spake as this man,' — and the seventh, its 
authenticity from ' We preach not ourselves, but Christ 
Jesus the Lord,' — are most powerful addresses. Such in- 
ternal marks of truth as are here forcibly exhibited weigh 
more in my mind than all the external evidences of Christi- 
anity put together; and, for strokes of eloquence, what can 
be finer than this passage in the fourth, ' When a voice 
speaks, as from heaven, it naturally turns our attention to 
that quarter, and when it speaks in inimitable thunder, it 
speaks methinks like itself, and in accents that cannot 
well be misunderstood;' judiciously prefaced, too, as this 
sublime ejaculation has been by what precedes it, for I feel, 
while I am transcribing the sentence, how much it suffers 
by this detached exhibition. In the fourteenth he divides 
the different cardinal principles upon which the various sys- 
tems of moral philosophy hinge, into — 1st, abstract truth, or 
the differences of things ; 2nd, an instinctive moral sense; 
3rd, private happiness ; and insinuates that these systems 

2 B 



370 



ADDENDA. 



might be made to consist together, but maintains that they 
do little more than inform us what virtue is, while they 
slenderly provide for the practice of it : he had his eye here 
on Warburton's Div. Leg. b. i. sect. 4. In a note to his 
nineteenth sermon he observes that Christianity is a religion 
founded not on opinions, but facts: that the Apostles shewed 
by their sufferings that they knew what they attested to be 
a true fact : succeeding sufferers shewed that they believed 
it to be so." (Diary of a Lover of Literature, pp. 165, 
166.) 

Dr. Parr, in a note, accords these Sermons the faint praise 
of being "wary and tempeiate. 1 ' (Bibliotheca Parriana, 
p. 685.) 

P. 139.— In the No-Popery riots of 1780, excited by that 
half-culpable, half-pitiable fanatic, Lord George Gordon, 
Bishop Hurd was in imminent danger, having escaped from 
the hands of the infuriated populace with torn canonicals. 

P. 141, 1. 24. — The following inscription was placed by 
Bishop Cornewall, Bishop third's successor, over the door 
of the Library: 

Museum hoc extruxit 
Librisque ornavit electissimis 
RICARDUS HURD, Episc. Vig. 
Testamento suo curans, 
ne literse ibi languescerent 
ubi per annos fere xxvii. floruerant. 

Animo gratissimo 
Tabellam hanc poni curavit F. Vig. 
M.DCCC.X. 

P. 142. " Is made unhappy."— This uneasiness of Dr. Ar- 
nald about his sermon was a symptom of his distressing 
malady. It seems to have discovered itself on the very day 



ADDENDA. 



371 



on whicli the sermon was preached. Mr. Cradock says in 
his Memoirs — 

" After Arnald had preached his sermon, &c, he went by 
invitation to drink tea at Dr. Watson's house. The Bishop 
(Watson) gave me many particulars of his behaviour. He 
probably had been agitated." (Cradock's Memoirs, vol. iv. 
p. 193.) 

P. 143, note. Rev. Stafford Smith. — Martin Stafford 
Smith was Scholar, and afterwards Fellow, of Corpus Christi 
College, Oxford. He become Chaplain to Bishop Warbur- 
ton in 1775, and Vicar of Cirencester in 1778. In 1781 he 
married the Bishop's widow, who had been Gertrude 
Tucker, the clever, accomplished, and favourite niece of 
Mr. Allen of Prior Park, and to whom that residence had 
been left for her life. From Bishop Hurd's gratitude to his 
old friend and patron, Mr. Stafford Smith received succes- 
sively in 1790 the living of Alvechurch, and in 1793 that 
of Fladbury, both in Worcestershire. Mrs. S. Smith having 
died in 1796, he married the next year Mary Elizabeth 
Plaisted, of Ticehurst, Sussex, the amiable and excellent 
friend of his first wife. From this time he lived chiefly in 
Bath, where his house in Queen Square was frequented by 
the best society, and where he and his wife were universally 
esteemed for their cheerful piety, the benevolence of their 
character, and the suavity and refinement of their manners. 
He died in 1833, she in 1837. In these venerable persons 
the last link of connection was snapped between the present 
age and the days when Prior Park flourished as the resort of 
the noble, the learned, and the wise. 

P. 171, note — A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Parr, occasioned 
by his republication of Tracts by Warburton, &c, 1789, 8vo. 

" The Letter to Dr. Parr was written by Dr. Lucas of 
Ripple, Worcestershire, and is a well-meant defence of his 

2 b 2 



372 



ADDENDA. 



learned patron Bishop Hurd. A Mr. Kobson, hearing that 
Dr. Parr had been told he was the author, disclaimed being 
so in a very handsome letter. The real author, Dr. Lucas, 
sent a copy of his book to Dr. Parr, who finds nothing in it 
to blame, but a very rash, invidious, and groundless charge 
of [Dr. Parr] having written some puff in the newspaper 
about his own learning and his claims to ecclesiastical pre- 
ferment. — S. P." (Bibliotheca Parriana, p. 443.) 

P. 172. Dr. Parr. — " The following conversation between 
his Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales and Dr. Parr, took 
place at the Duke of Norfolk's table in St. James's Square, in 
the presence of Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, Lord Erskine, and 
a large party of distinguished persons. 

" The name of the Archbishop of York, who was then in a 
declining state of health, having been alluded to, the Prince 
observed, ' I esteem Markham a much greater, wiser, and 
more learned man than Hurd, and a better teacher, and you 
will allow me to be a judge, for they were both my pre- 
ceptors. — Sir, said Dr. Parr, is it your Royal Highnesses 
pleasure that I should enter upon the topic of their com- 
parative merits as a subject of discussion? — Yes, said the 
Prince, — Then, Sir, said Dr. Parr, I differ entirely from 
your Royal Highness in opinion. — As I knew them both 
so intimately, replied the Prince, you will not deny that I 
had the power of more accurately appreciating their re- 
spective merits than you ,can have had. In their manner of 
teaching you may judge of my estimation of Markham's 
superiority — his natural dignity and authority, compared 
with the Bishop of Worcester's smoothness and softness ,; and 
I now add, with proper submission to your authority on 
such a subject, his experience as a schoolmaster, and his 
better scholarship. — Sir, said Parr, your Royal Highness 
began this conversation, and, if you permit it to go on, must 
tolerate a very different inference. — Go on, said the Prince; 



ADDENDA. 



373 



I declare that Markham understood Greek better than 
Hurd; for when I read Homer, and hesitated about a word, 
Markham immediately explained it, and then he went on; 
but, when I hesitated with Hurd, he always referred me to 
the Dictionary; I therefore conclude he wanted to be in- 
formed himself. — Sir, replied Parr, I venture to differ froni 
your Royal Highness's conclusion. I am myself a school- 
master, and I think that Dr. Hurd pursued the right 
method, and that Dr. Markham failed in his duty. Hard 
desired your Royal Highness to find the word in the Lexicon, 
not because he did not know it, but because he wished you to 
find by search, and learn it thoroughly. Dr. Hurd was not 
eminent as a scholar, but it is not likely that he would 
have presumed to teach your Royal Highness without 
knowing the lesson himself. — Have you not changed your 
opinion of Dr. Hurd? exclaimed the Prince; I have read a 
work in which you attacked him fiercely. — Yes, Sir, I 
attacked him on one point, which I thought important to 
letters, and I summoned the whole force of my mind, and 
took every possible pains to do it well, for I consider Hurd 
to be a great man. He is celebrated as such by foreign 
critics, who appreciate justly his wonderful acuteness, 
sagacity, and dexterity in doing what he has done with so 
small a stock of learning. There is no comparison, in my 
opinion, between Markham and Hurd as men of talents. 
Markham was a pompous schoolmaster — Hurd was a stiff 
and cold, but correct gentleman. Markham was at the head 
of a great school, then of a great college, and finally became 
an Archbishop. In all these stations he had trumpeters of 
his fame, who called him great, though he published one 
Concio only, which has already sunk into oblivion. From 
a farm-house and village-school Hurd emerged the friend of 
Gray, and a circle of distinguished men. While Fellow of 
a small College he sent out works praised by foreign critics, 
and not despised by our own scholars. He enriched his 



374 



ADDENDA. 



understanding by study, and sent from the obscurity of a 
country village a book, Sir, which your Royal Father is 
said to have declared made him a Bishop. He made himself 
unpopular in his own profession by the defence of a fantastical 
system. He had decriers — he had no trumpeters; he was 
great in and by himself; and perhaps, Sir,- a portion of that 
power and adroitness you have manifested in this debate, 
might have been owing to him. 

" Fox, when the Prince was gone, exclaimed, in his high 
tone of voice, ' He thought he had caught you, but he caught 
a Tartar.' 

" I took down this conversation from my revered friend's 
dictation. He averred that he was put on his defence, and 
that the argument was maintained with some heat." (John- 
stone's Life of Parr, vol. i. pp. 322-325.) 

The conversation above reported, if it does not give a 
high opinion of Parr's consistency, does honour to his gene- 
rosity, and is in full accordance with the following remarks 
by the Quarterly Reviewer: — 

" If Parr was not always just before he was generous, he 
was sure to be generous after he had been unjust. In the 
review of Dr. Combe's Horace in the British Critic, which 
was written a few years after the publication of the Warbur- 
ton Tracts, he reproves Wakefield for not speaking with 
sufficient caution of so illustrious a prelate as Dr. Hurd, and 
quotes with approbation his language on another occasion: 
' quas de his tribus versibus (Virgilii sc.) disseruit Ricardus 
Hurd, Episc. Wigorn, doctrina viri istius exquisita atque 
ingenio eleganti prorsus digna sunt;' and hints some blame 
to Dr. Combe for introducing so few of Bishop HuroVs notes*, 
1 whose criticisms on many particular passages are justly 
admired by those who may not agree with him in his 
general view of Horace's design.' " (Quarterly Review, vol. 
xxxix. p. 284.) 

"Parr had taken several opportunities of speaking hand- 



ADDENDA. 



375 



somely of Bishop Hurd in his Notes on Rapin, written some 
six years before the republication of the " Tracts, &c." 
(Ibid. p. 276.) 

P. 172, 1. 10. Dr. TJiomas Leland. — Parr, in his Biblio- 
theca, makes the following note upon Leland's Dissertation 
on the Principles of Human Eloquence. Dublin, 1765. 

" This copy was given to me by Dr. Leland himself, 
and, thinking that Dr. Leland had confuted his opponent, 
and that the opponent had treated Dr. Leland with un- 
becoming and unmerited scorn, I republished the whole" 
dispute. I dedicated the book to Bishop Hurd, and the 
dedication was followed by no answer. — S. P." (Biblio- 
theca Parriana, p. 58.) 

P. 174. — Parr's comments on the " Moral and Political 
Dialogues " are as follow : 

" Hurcts Moral and Political Dialogues, 1759. — ' De sua 
in Bibliothecam Samuelis Parr, honoris et amicitias causa, 
ponendum vult C. B. MDCCCIII.' 

" I was presented with this scarce and valuable first edition 
by the very learned Dr. Burney early in the spring of 
1803.— S. P. 

" Many notes are inserted in these books connected with 
the Warburton controversy. In the first edition Mr. Green 
of Ipswich pointed out many of the alterations made in the 
subsequent edition." 

" Hurd T s Moral and Political Dialogues, 1771. — For the 
purpose of knowing, whether I had once spoken too severely 
of Bishop Hurd respecting the changes silently and gradu- 
ally made in his celebrated Dialogues, I carefully compared 
this edition with the two former ones, and the result was 
that I had done the Bishop no injustice. If I had thought 
differently, my determination was to retract and apologise, 
— S. P." (Bibliotheca Parriana, p. 439.) 



376 



ADDENDA. 



On this subject Parr's assertions may be compared with 
the statement in p. 175. 

P. 174, note. Vanity of literary animosities. — "My ex- 
cellent friend the late Joseph Cradock, Esq. relates in a letter 
addressed to me and dated July 27, 1825, that when Dr. 
Parr went to meet Hurd at Lichfield, just then made 
Bishop, they abruptly encountered each other near the 
chancel, and that it was doubted which of the two bowed 
the lowest. 

" Another excellent friend wrote to me thus on May 1, 
1829: 'With regard to the coldness (or more than cold- 
ness) between Hurd and Parr, the following account of its 
termination was communicated to me by a gentleman of 
high estimation both in the fashionable and literary world: 

" ' At one of Hurd's visitations in the latter part of his 
life he observed Dr. Parr among the clergy,, and, walking 
up to him, said, ' Dr. Parr, there has long been variance 
between us, but my age is now so advanced that I can no 
longer afford to be at enmity with any human being, and 
therefore earnestly request that we may shake hands, and 
consign the past to oblivion.' My informant added that 
Parr was affected even to tears by this address.' " (Barker's 
Parriana, vol. iii. Addenda xiii.) 

P. 181. Life of Warburton, extracts from, 4to.— " That 
Life was prefixed to the posthumous 4to edition of Warbur- 
ton's Works, and therefore could in print be procured only 
by the subscribers. The learned Mr. Gaches was a sub- 
scriber, and lent the book to Dr. Parr, who caused extracts 
to be made, from some apprehension that he might have 
occasion for them if any unforeseen and unpleasant event 
should render it necessary for him to resume the controversy 
with Bishop Hurd. Dr. Parr met with many passages 
which offended him ; but, as the names of Dr. J ortin and Dr. 



ADDENDA. 



377 



Leland were studiously avoided, Dr. Parr was resolved not 
to defend any other excellent men whom the biographer 
had treated harshly. Archbishop Seeker found an advocate 
in Mr. W[intle] . Dr. Parr lamented the languor of the 
Wykehamists in suffering the unjust attack upon Bishop 
Lowth to pass unnoticed. Dr. Parr in the correspondence 
between Bishops Hurd and Warburton, published after the 
death of Hurd, met with some offensive matter about Leland 
and Jortin; but as, in consequence of Warburton's Life 
written by Hurd, and softened, too, in all probability by 
Dr. Parr's publication, and perhaps extorted from Hurd 
sooner than he intended to let it see the light, there has 
been a considerable change in public opinion, Dr. Parr 
determined not to take up his pen." (Bibliotheca Parriana, 
p. 535.) 

I P. 189. The Prime of Wales. — The year before his death, 
the Bishop received an attention equally creditable to the 
payer and gratifying to the receiver, in a visit from his 
former pupil, the Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness being 
on a visit to Lady Downshire at Ombersley Court, between 
Hartlebury and Worcester, and the Bishop being too infirm 
to pay his respects at Ombersley, the Prince went over on 
the 26th of September, 1807, attended by the Duke of 
Sussex and Lord Lake, to Hartlebury, and stayed with him 
an hour\ 

P. 190. Personal Reminiscences. — At this distance of 
time personal reminiscences of the Bishop can be but few 
and scanty. The Editor can say little more than, Virgilium 
tantum vidi. He remembers, on two or three visits to his 
uncle Richard Kilvert, Rector of Hartlebury, between the 
years 1804 and 1808, to have seen the Bishop attending 
Divine Service at his parish church on Sundays, feeble, 
bent forward, and leaning on his staff, but always stopping 



378 



ADDENDA. 



at the rectorial pew after service with a courteous inquiry 
after the health of its inmates. 

A lady still living, who had better opportunities, says in 
reply to the Editor's inquiries : 

"lam sorry that I cannot remember anything concerning 
Bishop Hurd to be of service to you. My earliest recollec- 
tion of him is the strongest, when as a child I dined at the 
Castle, and he made me sit by him and enjoyed my enjoy- 
ment of the good things he gave me both eatable and 
drinkable; and when, towards the end of dinner, heaping 
my plate with the one, and filling my glass with the other, 
he said, with a playful courteousness 3 

This jelly's good, this malmsey's healing r 
Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in, 

I was delighted ! Years had passed before I went there 
occasionally again. The Bishop had become very deaf? 
and was occasionally dozing, and the hours were some of 
the dreariest I can remember. The chapel clock was music 
when it struck the time of deliverance." 

The following anecdote, supplied to me by the Eev. 
George Eoberts of Cheltenham, bears testimony to the 
Bishop's accurate discernment of character : — 

" My grandmother, Mrs. John Parsons, used to tell the 
following anecdote of the Bishop She described his man- 
ners as particularly soft and winning, his voice as low and 
musical. He was fond of conversing with her, and answer- 
ing her inquiries about the Court. Shortly after his arrival 
at Hartlebury, she said to him one day as they were sitting 
together : ' How do you think your pupil His Boyal High- 
ness the Prince of Wales will turn out? ' ' My dear cousin,' 
the Bishop replied, laying his peculiarly small white hand 
upon her arm, ' I can hardly tell; either the most polished 
gentleman, or the most accomplished blackguard in Europe ; 
possibly an admixture of both." 



ADDENDA^ 



379 



P. 194. — Among the Bishop's testamentary dispositions 
was a bequest of £2,000 to Emmanuel College. 

Pp. 197, 205, 254. — It was hardly to be expected that 
two men so different in nature, education 7 and sentiment, 
as Hurd and Johnson should cordially agree. They have 
both accordingly, as we have seen, spoken disparagingly of 
each other. Johnson, however, is reported by Boswell to 
have said of the Bishop, " Hurd, Sir, is a man whose ac- 
quaintance is a valuable acquisition.*' (Boswell's Life, &c, 
edited by Croker, vol. viii. p. 180.) 

P. 199. 1. 17. — HurcTs influence over Warburton. — An 
anecdote given by Mr. Malone on the authority of Lord 
Hillsborough bears further testimony to this influence. 

" When Bishop Hurd once paid a visit to Bishop War- 
burton. Mrs. Warburton y before the Bishop came down, said 
to Hurd. ' I am glad you have come, my Lord, to pour a 
little of your oil upon the Bishop's vinegar.' " — (Prior's Life 
of Malone, p. 445.) 

P. 199. — Bishop Hurd's "manners" will be illustrated 
by the following extract from a letter of Bishop Warburton 
to Bishop Hurd. dated March 31, 1767: 

" I have much chat of various kinds to entertain you 
with : but nothing so pleasing to me as a tete-a-tete with 
Lord and Lady Mansfield the other day. Speaking of you, 
he said, ' Mr. Hurd is a great favourite of my Lady's;' she 
replied, ' It is very true ;' and on that mentioned vour 
manners and your parts in the most advantageous terms. 
He joined with her. and then spoke of your advancement in 
the Church as a thing he most wished. So for the future 
you must not only call him my friend, but yours likewise." 
(Warburton Correspondence, Letter cxciii.) 



380 



ADDENDA. 



P. 206. Character of Bishop Hwrd. — To this estimate 
may be properly added the few but weighty words of that 
" honest chronicler," Mr. John Nichols : 

" With his friends and connexions he obtained their best 
eulogium, their constant and warm attachment; and with 
the world in general a kind of veneration, which, in times 
like the present, could neither be acquired nor preserved 
but by the exercise of great virtues.' ' (Nichols's Literary 
Anecdotes, vol. vi. p. 600). 

P. 207, I. 17. Inscription on Bishop Hurd. — After 
" officiosus," insert: — 

COULEII sui 
in literati otii studio 
asmulus. 

JioJs f D .tocpo xioa ob moo ;te xuaoo ires ab maio&mo ol iaq 
P. 222. Merchant of Lucca. — Frescobaldi, who, having be- 
friended Cromwell, when in a destitute condition in Italy, with 
sixteen golden ducats, having himself fallen into poverty, and 
come over to England to recover some debts, was munifi- 
cently repaid by Cromwell, then at the height of his pros- 
perity, with sixteen hundred. 

P. 251, 1. 28. Dialogues " between Lord Clarendon, 
Lord Hopton, &c." — This fine idea seems not to have been 
worked out : at least, no such dialogue appears amongst 
those published by the Bishop. 

P. 28 1 . " Conway Castle, &c, transported by his passion." — 
The custody of Conway Castle in North Wales had been 
committed by the King to Archbishop Williams, but, having 
been forcibly taken from him, in spite of his remonstrances, 
under the authority of Prince Rupert, in 1647, by Sir John 
Owen, who added insult to injury, he aided Colonel Mytton 
and a parliamentarian force in retaking the castle. This 
brought him into great odium with the royalists. (See his 
Life by Racket, and the histories of the time.) 



ADDENDA. 



381 



P. 248. "Essence of Malone" — Malone seems to have been 
treated both by trie Bishop and Judge Hardinge with some 
injustice. The very interesting Life of him by Sir James 
Prior, lately published, effectually redeems him from so 
severe a censure. At all events his enthusiasm for Shake- 
speare, his constancy in the pursuit of his great object — the 
correction of the poet's text, and his indefatigable patience 
and industry, ought in all fairness to be set against any defi- 
ciency in critical acumen. 

e most amiable character of a woman I ever 
met with." — " Dans tout autre siecle, ou Ton n'auroit pas 
perdu comme dans celui-ci la veritable notion des vertus et 
des vices, cette femme auroit ete l'ornement de son sexe, 
par le caractere de son coeur et celui de son esprit. C'etoit 
une droiture si vraie et si naturelle, qu'on s'appercevoit 
qu'elle n'avoit pas meme 1'idee du mal, soit pour le suivre, 
soit pour le couseiller; et en meme temps, un si grand 
fond de douceur, qu'elle ne connoissoit pas davantage le plus 
petit sentiment de haine, de malignite, d'envie, ou siinple- 
ment de mauvaise humeur. Je ne crois pas que jamais 
femme ait eu une conversation plus remplie de graces, et 
joint a* un tour d'esprit fin et delie, une naivete et une sim- 
plicite plus agreables. Ses reparties etoient pleines de sel et 
legerete. On la trouvoit tout ensemble douce et vive, tran- 
quille et gaie." — (Memoires de M. de Bethune, Due de Sully, 
livre vii. a.d. 1594.^) 

P. 316. — The passage of Bishop Hurd's sermon here re- 
ferred to is as follows:— " Let the friendliest, the best man 
living explore his own conscience, and let him tell us, or 
rather let him tell himself, if he can, that he has never 
offended in the instance here given [i. e. speaking hardly 
of others]. I suppose on a strict inquiry, he will cer- 



382 



ADDENDA. 



tainly call to mind some peevish sentiment, some negli- 
gent censure, some sharp reflection, which at times hath 
escaped him, even in regard to his second self, a bosom friend. 
Either he took something wrong, and some suspicious cir- 
cumstance misled him ; or he was out of health and spirits ; 
or he was ruffled by some ungrateful accidents ; or he had 
forgotten himself in an hour of levity; or a splenetic 
moment had surprised him ;— some or other of these causes, 
he will find, had betrayed him into a sudden warmth and 
asperity of expression, which he is now ashamed of and 
sorry for, and hath long since retracted and condemned." 
(Sermon on Eccl. vii. 21, 22.) 

P. 325. Death of the Earl of Mansfield.— ■" My noble 
and honoured friend the Earl of Mansfield died March 20, 
1793." (Bishop Hurd's Autobiographical Notes.) 

In 1797 was published " The Life of William late Earl 
of Mansfield, by John Holliday, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq.F.R.S. 
and Barrister at Law." This work is dedicated to the Bishop 
of Worcester. In the dedication the author says : — 

" Happy would it have been for an enlightened age, if 
your Lordship's bodily health had to the present period kept 
pace with the vigour of your mind, — if your other avocations 
would have permitted what your inclination would not fail 
to prompt — the payment of a just tribute to the memory of 
a zealous patron, and a sincere friend, — an office which, from 
a chain of circumstances, devolves on me." 

And in his Preface, after stating that he does not attempt 
to delineate Lord Mansfield's political life, but only his cha- 
racter in his judicial capacity and in private life, Mr. Holli- 
day adds : — 

" Yes, there is one very learned and venerable friend of 
Lord Mansfield, who ' can speak of his conduct in the House 
of Lords with the more confidence, because he speaks from 



ADDENDA. 



383 



his own observation.'** And is there a man of science who 
will not readily admit that this distinguished prelate stands 
not in need of any co-adjntor? That he is Ipse agmen, and 
that under all the combined and favourable circumstances of 
gratitude, friendship, affection, and great literary abilities, 
he could embalm the memory of a deceased friend with 
aromatics of the choicest sort?" 

P. 330, note.— Dean Onslow died in 1817, not 1849. 

P. 343. Defence of the Italian Poets, fyc. — This extract 
should have commenced with the following passages: u Chi 
non sa che cosa sia Italia ? If this question could ever be 
reasonably asked on any occasion, it must surely be when 
the wit and poetry of that people were under consideration. 
The enchanting sweetness of their tongue, the richness of 
their invention, the fire and elevation of their genius, the 
splendour of their expression on great subjects, and the 
native simplicity of their sentiments on affecting ones, — all 
these are such manifest advantages on the side of the Italian 
poets, as should seem to command our highest admiration 
of their great and capital works. 

" Yet a different language has been held by our finer 
critics; and in particular, you hear it commonly said of the 
tales of Fairy, which they first and principally adorned, 
' that they are extravagant and absurd ; that they surpass 
all bounds, not of truth only, but of probability, and look 
more like the dreams of children than the manly inventions 
of poets, 1 

u The only criticism, &c. 

* See Bishop Hurd's character of Lord Mansfield, given before in 
p. 255. 



384 



ADDENDA. 



The Editor, in dismissing a work Vhich had for many 
years been contemplated by him, though till of late deferred 
for want of materials, desires to appropriate in part the 
striking words with which Bishop Hurd closes his Life of 
his great friend. 

" I have now, as I found myself able, and in the manner 
I judged most fit, discharged my duty to this incomparable 
man: a duty which he seemed to expect would be paid to 
him by one or other of his surviving friends, when, in the 
close of his preface to Mr. Pope's Works, he has these 
affecting words, ' And I, when envy and calumny take 
the same advantage of my absence (for while I live I will 
trust it to my life to confute them), may I find a friend as 
careful of my honest fame as I have been of his ! ' I have, 
I say, endeavoured to do justice to his memory ; but in so 
doing I have taken, the reader sees, the best method to 
preserve my own. For in placing myself so near to him in 
this edition of his immortal Works, I have the fairest, 
perhaps the only, chance of being known to posterity 
myself. Envy and prejudice have had their day ;* and when 
his name comes, as it will do, into all mouths, it may then 
be remembered that the writer of this Life was honoured 
with some share of his esteem, and had the pleasure of 
living in the most entire and unreserved friendship with 
him for near THIRTY YEARS." 

* In his own copy of his friend's collected Works, in the library at 
Hartlebury Castle, Bisnop Hurd has inscribed Quintilian's emphatic 
words, " Ad posteros Virtus durabit, non perveniet Invidia." 
(Quint. Inst. Orat. iii.) 



THE WORKS OF BISHOP HURD 

* 

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 



Remarks" on a late Book, entitled an Enquiry into the Rejection 
of the Christian Miracles by the Heathen, by .William 
Weston, B.D., 1746 . . . . . 1748 

Verses on the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, in the Cambridge 

University Collection . . . . .1749 

Q. Horatii Flacci Epist. ad Pisones, with an English Com- 
mentary and Notes . . . . .1749 

Q. Horat. Flac. Epist. ad Augustum, with the same . . 1751 

The opinion of an eminent lawyer concerning the Right of 
Appeal from the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge to the 
Senate . . . . .... 1751 

* Sermon at the Assizes at Norwich . . . .1752 

*Do. for the Charity Schools at Cambridge . . .1753 

Dissertation on the Delicacy of Friendship . . .1755 

Remarks on Hume's Natural History of Religion . . 1757 

Dissertations on the Province of the Drama, on Poetical Imita- 
tion, and on the marks of Imitation . . .1757 
Moral and Political Dialogues . . . . .1759 

Letters on Chivalry and Romance . . . .1762 

Dissertation on the Idea of Universal Poetry . . . 1762 

Letter to Dr. Leland on his Dissertation on the Principles of 

Human Eloquence ..... 1764 

Dialogues on Foreign Travel . . . . .1764 

Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies . . .1772 

Select Works of Mr. A. Cowley, with a Preface and Notes . 1772 
Charge to the Clergy of Lichfield and Coventry . 1775, 1776 

Sermons preached at Lincoln's Inn, Vol. I. . . 1776 

Sermon before the House of Lords on the Fast-day . . 1776 



* These two Sermons are not included in the edition of the Bishop's collected 
works. 

2 c 



386 



THE WORKS OF BISHOP HURD. 



Sermons at Lincoln's Inn, Vols. II. and III. . . . 1780 

Sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 

in Foreign Parts . . . . . . 1781 

Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Worcester . . 1782 

Ditto 1785 

Sermon before the House of Lords on the 30th of January . 1786 
Works of the Eight Rev. William Warburton, Lord Bishop of 

Gloucester. 7 vols. 4to. .... 1788 

Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Worcester . . 1790 

Discourse by way of Preface to the 4to. edit, of Bishop War- 
burton's Works, containing some account of the Life, 
Writings, and Character of the Author . . .1794 

Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Worcester . .1796 

Ditto . . . . . . 1800 

To these must be added the following posthumous Works : 

Letters from a late eminent Prelate to one of his friends j and 

Notes on the Prose Works of Mr. Addison. 

'■•<■ .mK-.wft .nsmloO . ' ■ m ,i£ .JI .vaH x hHv*k 

The Bishop's collected Works, with the exception of the two last, and 

the occasional Sermons above mentioned, were republished in 8 vols. 

8vo. by Messrs. Cadell in 1811. 



INDEX TO LIFE OF BISHOP HURL). 



Addison, Mr. as a Critic, 363 

a Dramatis*, 126 

an Humourist, 244 

a Politician, 77 

■ a Writer, 108, 363 

Inscription on, 245 

on the age of Queen Elizabeth, 340 

recently undervalued, 297 

Allen, Rev. J. T. x. 40 
Allen, Ralph, 45, 91, 353 
Arbuthnot, Dr. 73, 244, 342 
Ariosto, 87, 89 
Aristotle, 35, 100, 106, 364 
Arnald, Rev. R. 21, 129 

Dr. W. 129, and passim 

Ascham, Roger, 307 

B. 

Bacon, Lord, 285, 286, 294, 298 
Balguy, Archdeacon, 39, passim 

Rev. John, 39, 165 

Ball, Rev. David, 72, 131 
Barrow, Dr. Isaac, 238, 259, 286 
Barron, Professor, 133, note 
Beattie, Dr. 31, 109, 244, 368 
Bentley, Dr. Richard, 23, 289 
Bickharn, Dr. James, 48, 71, 84 
Blackburn, Archdeacon, 357 
Blount, Martha, 105 
Bolingbroke, Lord, 133 
Boswell, 254 
Bossuet, 263 

Brown, Rev. Dr. John, 54, 81, 99, 152 

Bryant, Jacob, 145 

Budworth, Rev. Wm. 4, 13, 25, 148 

■ Lieut. 147 

Buchanan, George, 225 

Buller, Bishop, 323 

Burgh, 115, note, 116 

Burke, Edmund, 116, 177, 179, 321 



Burnet, Bishop, 

Butler, Bishop, John, 112, 114, 315 
Bishop, Joseph, 115 

C. 

Capel, Lord. 251 
Chapman, Dr. Thomas, 43, 45 
Chandler, Samuel, 20, 26 
Charles I. 285 

VIII. of France, 270, 295 

Cicero, 244, 285, 290, 292, 293, 305 

Clarendon, 78, 79, 227, 238, 251 

Cole, Rev. W. 5, note, 202, note 

Colman, Geo. Sen. 30 

Constantine, 274, 275 

Conway Castle, 281, 380 

Cornewall, Bishop, 324, 370 

Cowley, Abraham, 102, 240 

Cradock, Joseph, Reminiscences, 67, 

do. 96, do. 125 
Cranmer, Archbishop, 223, 267 
Cromwell, Oliver, 305 
CrumweJl, Thomas, 222 

D. 

D'Arblay, Reminiscences, 158, do. 168 
Darwin, Dr. 126 
D'Avila, 79, 226 

Dalrymple, Sir David, 139, 140, 319, 

323 

Davenant, Sir William, 66 
Delany, Dr. 6, 9, 17, 19 

Mrs. 169, 199 

Descartes, 239 

Devey, Rev. J. 5, passim 

Digby, Mr. 73 

Dionysius (of Halicarnassus), 35 
Douglas, Bishop, 30 
Drake, Dr. 40, 122 
Dryden, 32, 289 



388 



INDEX TO LIFE OF BISHOP KURD. 



E. 

Earle, Bishop, 52, note 
Elizabeth, Queen, 73, 340 
Erasmus, 219, 286 
Euripides, 89, 308 



Farmer, Rev. Hugh, 133 

Dr. Richard, 100 

Fenelon, 264 
Fielding, 45 
Ford, Dr. Henry, 326 
Fraser, Rev. Mr. 185 
Frescobaldi, 222, 378 



Gardiner, Bishop, 218 
Garrick, 68, 362 

Geddes, Dr. Alexander, 319, note 
George III. 120, 140, 159, 168, 189 
Giannoni, 76 

Gibbon, 102, 112, 153, 167, 168, 250, 
251 

Gisborne, Thomas, M.D. 169, note 

Rev. Thomas, 170 

Grafton, Duke of, 109 

Gray, 103, 104, 110, 124, 362 

Green, Bishop, 51 

of Cottenham, 47 

of Ipswich, 32, 63, passim 

Grotius, Hugo, 228 

Guicciardini, 282 

Guise, Duchesse de, 311, 381 

H. 

Hailes, Lord, v. Dalrymple 

Hall, Bishop, 50, 236 

Hallifax, Bishop, 113, 125, 153 

Harris, James, 124 

Hatherton, Lord, 57, note 

Hayter, Bishop, 49, 84 

Hardouin, 319 

Hartlebury, 141 and passim 

Heberden, Dr. 48, 49, 112, 114, 248, 

passim 
Henri Quatre, 162, 164 
Heylin, Dr. Peter, 234, 264 
Kevne. 316 



flW .V9# AtiRih 



Hoadly, Bishop, 81 
Hobbes, 294, 304, 344 
Holliday, John, 380 
Holmes, Rev. Robt. 162, 165 
Hooker, 260, 286, 294 
Hopton, Lord, 251 
Horace, 29, 35, and passim 
Home, Bishop, 49, 152 
Horsley, Bishop, 153, 154, 179 
Horton, 57, 131 
Houbigant, 320 
Hubbard, 5, 59 
Huet, 241 

Hume, David, 84, 132, 137, 152, 284 
Huntingdon, Lady, 201 
Hurd, Bishop : 

Birth and Parentage, I — 3 

School and College life, 4 — 5 

ordained Deacon, 10 

Priest, 20 

introduced to Bishop Warburton, 

34 

inducted to Thurcaston, 60 

elected Preacher of Lincoln's Inn, 

95 

— made Bishop of Lichfield, 120 

appointed Preceptor to the Princes, 

130 

made Bishop of Worcester, and 

Clerk of the Closet, 140 

declines the Archbishopric of Can- 
terbury, 146 

his death, 191 

his character, 194, 358 

personal reminiscences of, 377 

Hutton, Archbishop, 50 

Jenyns, Soame, 47 
Johnson, Bishop, 109 
Johnson, Dr. 197, 205, 254, 296 
Johnstone, Dr. J. 151, 374 
Jcrtin, Rev. J. 53, 122 
Junius, 109, 296, 315 

K. 

Kilvert, Rev. R. 157, 377 
Kippis, Dr. A. 113, 114, 152 



INDEX TO LIFE OF BISHOP HURD. 



389 



L. 

Laud, Archbishop, 232, 262, 267 
Leland, Dr. 73, 94, 172, 361 
Littleton, Sir E. 3, 36, passim 
Lindsay, Dr. 1 15, 119 
Locke, John, 118, 242, 252, 347 
Longinus, 35, 289 

Lowth, Bishop, 182, 249, 327, passim 
Lucas, Dr. Ill, note, 370 
Lucretius, 9, 212, 275, 287, 291 
Ludlam, Rev. Wm. 99, 156 
Luther, 217 

Lyttelton, Lord, 85, 104, 363 



M. 

Machiavel, 288, 294 
Macro, Dr. Cox, 10, 12, 14 
Mainwaring, Prof. 125, 138, 366 
Malone, Edm. 248, 381 
Mansfield, Lord, 38, 109, 120, 254, 285, 
325, 382 

Markham, Archbishop, 120, 325, note, 
371 

Marmontel, 288 

Maynard, Sir John, 7S 

Mason, Rev. Wm. 50, 61, 246, 358, 363 

Mazarin, Cardinal, 239 

Mede, Joseph, 185, 257 

Metastasio, 89 4 

Michaelis, 316 

Middleton, Dr. Conyers, 24, 246 
Milton, 288, 289, 303, 363, passim 
Molyneux, 242 
Montagu, Duke of, 365 
Montmorenci, 193 
Moore, Archbishop, 146 
More, Alexander, 304 

Dr. Henry, 73 

Sir Thos. 217, 307 

Moses, 278 



N. 

Newcastle, Duke of, 48, 85, 311 
Nichols, John, 358, 365 
North, Lord, 121, 135 



O. 

Ogden, Dr. Sam. 51, 133 
Onslow, Dean, 330 

P. -08 e e8 ^biqhu3 

Paley, 156, 170 
Parker, Archbishop, 223 
Parkes, Joseph, 109, note 
Parnell, 289 

Parr, Dr. Sam. 171, 371—375 

Parry, Rev. R. 70 

Parsons, Wm. 187 

Pearce, Bishop, 288 

Petrarch, 345 

Petronius, 35 

Pitt, Mr. 92, 361 

Plutarch, 84, 280, 290, 360 

Pole, Cardinal, 281 

Pope, 23, 35, 41, 244, 289, passim 

Porson, 175 

Porter, Sir James, 104, note 

Porteus, Bishop, 108 

Powell, Dr. S. W. 45, 93, 128, 247 

Priestley, Dr. 113, 145 

Prior, 289, 291 

Prior Park, 46, 354, passim 

\ Q. 15 ^iH^iO 
Quintilian, 35, 205, 289, 292 

R. 

Randolph, Bishop, 321 
Rapin, 284 

Retz, Cardinal de, 239 
Robertson, Dr. Wm. 132 
Rochefoucauld, 238 
Roscoe, Wm. 250 
Ross, Bishop, 131 
Rousseau, 81, 305, 345 

S. 

Sallust, 292 
Salmasius, 289, 303 
Samson Agonistes, 289, 300 
Savonarola, 213 
Scaliger, 289 
Schomberg, Dr. 131 



390 



INDEX TO LIFE OF BISHOP HURD. 



Seeker, Archb. 107, 133, 249,272, 327 
Seneca, 277, 290, 292 
Sforza, Ludovico, 282 
Shaftesbury, Lord, 42, 252, 347 
Shakespeare, 33, 289 
Sherlock, Bishop, 42 
Shipley, Bishop, 115, 181 
Smalley,Rev. N. LI, 12 
Smelt, 159 

Smith, Rev. M. S. 40, 343, 154, 371 

■ Mrs. S. 40, 143, 154, 371 

Socrates, 266, 303, 309 
Somers, Lord, 73 
Spenser, 86, 89, 289 
Sprat, Bishop, 73 
Staker, Dr. 152, note 
Sterne, Laurence, 81, 127 
Stillingfleet, Bishop, 118, 286 
Sturges, Rev. John* 119, note 
Swift, Dean, 169, 244, 246 

Tasso, 87, 89, 308 
Taylor, Bis.hop Jeremy, 277, 286 
Thomas, Bishop, 135, 140 
Thurcaston, 60, 68, 129, 357 
To wne, Archdeacon, 55, 137, 178 
Travis, Rev. G. 153, 318 
Tunstall, Dr. James, 357 

V. 

Velli, 93 

Vernon, Archbishop, 318 



Virgil, 244, 297, 301 
Vitringa, 320 
Voltaire, 245, 362 

W. 

Wales, Prince of, 372, 377 
Waller, 73, 240 
Wallis, Dr. 118 

Warburton, Bishop, 86, 360, passim 

Mrs. 143, 379 

Ralph Allen, 86, 360 

Ward, Bishop Seth, 310 
Warren, Bishop, 156 
Warton, Dr. J. 31, 99, 176 

Rev. T. 88, 89, 103, 119 

Waterfield, Rev. R. 358 
West, Dr. Gilbert, 26, note 
Weston, Rev. W. 25 
Wharton, Dr. 106, note 
Whitgift, Archbishop, 224, 294 
Whitehead, William, 247, 356 
Wilkins, Bishop, 237 
Williams, Archbishop, 229 
Wintle, Rev. T. 249 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 220 
Wray, Daniel, 48 

yrV Y d iiotiB-ihiml dfiffi 
Yorke, Right Hon. Charles, 54, 86, 353, 
passim 

Young, Rev. Dr. Edward, 49 



INDEX OF EXTRACTS. 



JST.B. — For extracts indicated by a 

Affections, Religious, 263 

Atheism and Superstition, 265 

Bishops, 299 

Casuistry, 276 

Change, 192, 271 

Church, 269 

Churchmen, 267 

Controversy, 293 

Conversation, 283, 290, 303 

Criticism, 288 

Death, 193 

Dedications, 300 

Dialogues, 251 < 

Divinity, The, 266 

Enemies, 272 

England, Church of, 262 

Enthusiasm, Religious, 264 

Epigram, 311 

Experience, 259 

Faith, Justification by, 259 

Fortune, 271 

French, The, 295 

Genius, 297 

Government, 301 

Happiness, 275 

Illusions, 267 

Imitation, 299 

Infidels, 264 

Justice, 285 

Language, English, 307 

French, 312 

Learning, 286 

Letters (Epistles), 287, 293 



proper name see the Index of Names. 

Liberty, 287 
Library, 288 
Life, Human, 191 

Long, 192 

Missions, 335 
Names, Christian, 276 
Nature, Human, 285 

Light of, 260 

Paganism, 268 
Persecution, 275 
Personification, 291 
Philosophy, Epicurean, 279 
Poetry and Poets, 287, 289, 297, 302 
Politeness, 336 

Principle as a ground of action, 272 
Prophesy, 260, 333 
Providence, 192, 269 
Rank, 294 
Reason, 290 

Religion, Natural and Revealed, 338 
Republicanism, 293 
Septicism, 265 
Socinianism, 263 

Translation of the Scriptures, 273 
Travelling, 303 
Universities, 347 
Vanity, 298 
Virtue, 279 

Wealth, Honour, &c, 274 
Women, 309 

World, Knowledge of the, 346 
Writers and Writing, 289, 294, 29 



ERRATA. 



Page 25, line 16, for 11 qualieunque," read " qualecunque." 

„ 40, „ 9, for " I have," read " has been." 

„ 72, „ 25, for " 1758," read " 1764." 

„ 74, „ 24, for 11 compliments," read " compliment." 

75, „ 4, for do. read do. 

„ 105, „ 7,/or" 1796," read 11 1769." 

„ 127, „ 32, /or "Prior Bark," red " Prior Park." 

„ 139, Note, for « 792," read " 1792." 

„ 151, „ 3, for " Johnson," read " Johnstone." 

„ 245, „ 23, dele " (Bishop Hurd's Common Place Book)." 

„ 271, „ 21, for " change, read " faith and works." 

„ 323, Note, for" Butler," raze?"Buller." 

„ 330, Note, for « 1849," read " 1817." 

„ 378, „ 19, for " Vigilii " read " Virgilii." 



NOV 11923 



